102 THOUGHTS ON HUNTING 



fully sufficient to trust in a groom's hands. Somer- 

 ville's advice on the subject of madness is worth your 

 notice : 



When Sirius reigns, and the sun's parching beams 



Bake the dry gaping surface, visit thou 



Each ev'n and morn, with quick observant eye, 



Thy panting pack. If in dark sullen mood 



The glouting hound refuse his wonted meal, 



Retiring to some close, obscure retreat, 



Gloomy, disconsolate ; with speed remove 



The poor infectious wretch, and in strong chains 



Bind him suspected. Thus that dire disease, 



Which art can't cure, wise caution may prevent. 



Plenty of water, whey, greens, physic, air, and 

 exercise, such as I have before mentioned, have 

 hitherto preserved my kennel from its baneful in- 

 fluence ; and, without doubt, you will also find their 

 good effects. If, notwithstanding, you should at any 

 time have reason to suspect the approach of this evil, 

 let your hounds be well observed at the time when 

 they feed : there will be no danger while they can 

 eat. Should a whole pack be in the same pre- 

 dicament, they must be chained up separately : and 

 I should be very cautious what experiment I tried to 

 cure them ; for I have been told by those who have 

 had madness in their kennels, and who have drenched 

 their hounds to cure it, that it was the occasion of 

 its breaking out a long time afterwards, and that it 

 continued to do so as long as they gave them 

 anything to put it off. If a few dogs only have been 

 bitten, you had better hang them. If you suspect 

 any, you had better separate them from the rest ; and 

 a short time, if you use no remedy, will determine 

 whether they really were bitten, or not. Should you, 



