THE FOXHOUND. 207 



him than he could otherwise do. All that is here recom- 

 mended is the result of the writer's personal experience, 

 which has been a ID pie. 



Shooting and fishing have been so overdone that it is 

 evident that what remains of them, worth attention, will 

 be rapidly taken up and preserved by the exclusive and 

 the wealthy. The noble sport of fox-hunting remains, 

 and will ever remain, within reach of the people. It can 

 never be preserved. It can neither be monopolized by pro- 

 fessionalism nor ruined by "records." It is a sport in 

 which ladies may and should freely participate, and hence 

 it can scarcely be vulgarized. 



From an experience of thirty years in the medical pro- 

 fession, the writer is of opinion that there are fifty delicate 

 women who would be physically regenerated by horseback 

 exercise to one who would be in the ]east degree injured 

 by it. Unless we become a nation of fox-hunters, we 

 shall very surely become a nation of dog-carters. A mul- 

 titude of arguments in favor of hunting suggest them- 

 selves; it is difficult to find one valid argument of a contrary 

 effect. 



It remains to glance at the subject of the diseases of 

 Foxhounds. If the rational system of kennel management 

 be adopted, and the hygiene of the kennel be attended to, 

 there will seldom be a sick Hound. They are a race of 

 animals naturally preeminently hardy. The hygiene of 

 the kennel consists in a few simple things. Let the ken- 

 nel be clean, dry, light, and warm. Let the Hounds be out 

 as much as possible, but always kennel them at night. If 

 a neighbor has sheep killed by curs, he can not lay it to the 

 Hounds if they were locked up in the kennel. When the 

 Hounds are let out, they may be coupled; and they should 

 always be broken to the couple, but should not be kept 

 coupled merely from habit. If they are not likely to 

 get into mischief, let them run loose. The couple should 

 be a stiff iron rod, not over six inches long, with an inch ring 

 for the collar at each end. If longer, they are always liable 



