70 BRITISH DOGS 



of these colours, and with the characteristic spots on cheeks and 

 over the eyes. 



Turberville says : "The Bloodhounds of this colour prove good, 

 especially such as are * cole ' black." The dun hounds are much 

 nearer in colour to our modern dog ; these were dun on the back, 

 having their legs and forequarters red or tanned, and it is added 

 the light-tanned dogs were not so strong. 



Gervase Markham, who was a very copious writer, follows 

 Turberville pretty closely. His description of a Talbot-like hound 

 would, in many respects, stand for a modern Bloodhound, although 

 certainly not in head, on which point he does not seem to 

 have expressed his meaning very clearly. He says : " A round, 

 thick head, with a short nose uprising, and large, open nostrils ; 

 ears exceedingly large and thin, and down hanging much lower 

 than his chaps, and the flews of his upper lips almost two inches 

 lower than his nether chaps ; back strong and straight ; fillets thick 

 and great; huckle bones round and hidden ; thighs round; hams 

 straight ; tail long and rush-grown that is, big at the setting on, 

 and small downwards ; legs large and lean ; foot high knuckled and 

 well clawed, with a dry, hard sole." 



From all this, and much more that might be quoted, it may 

 be gathered that whilst the dun and tan that is, the black saddle 

 back and tan-legged dogs most nearly agree in colour with our 

 Bloodhound, it is a mere accident of selection, although that may 

 have been influenced by that coloured dog showing more aptitude 

 for the special work he was put to, and certainly the colour is 

 admirably adapted to a dog used for night work, as he often was ; 

 for even Dr. Caius relates how these dogs were kept in dark kennels, 

 that they might better do night work. The practice would assuredly 

 defeat its object. 



Daniels, in his "Rural Sports," says of the Bloodhound: "This 

 singular race of dogs is nearly extinct, Mr. Astle and his family 

 possessing a few only of the pure breed. The height of the species 

 was seven or eight and twenty inches; of compact, muscular form; 

 the upper part of the face broad, gradually contracted to the snout ; 

 nostrils wide ; ears large and pendulous, and narrowing to the tip. 

 One distinguishing trait of purity in the breed was the colour, 

 which was almost invariably a reddish tan, progressively darkening 

 to the upper part, with a mixture of black upon the back." 



It appears that Daniels made the mistake, so common with 

 modern ephemeral writers on dogs, of taking a particular strain 

 or a kennel as the type of a breed, instead of a variation of the 

 breed in unimportant points. 



When the Bloodhound was first used to track fugitives has riever 

 been satisfactorily determined. However, an undoubted allusion 

 to their employment in such a capacity that we have found occurs 



