THE JIOUXDS. T73 



Distemper — is a disease incidental to all dogs, and yields to simple 

 treatment and careful diet. 



Jfaiii^e — generally arises from carelessness, want of cleanliness in the 

 kennels, dirty bedding, foul feeding, want of exercise, too much flesh-food, 

 cS:c. The disease is caused by an insect which burrows under the skin, and 

 is equivalent to the itch in mankind. The hair falls off, and the hound is 

 i:)erpelually scratching himself. The treatment is simple : — isolation, washing 

 with soft soap, and anointing the affected parts witli a special ointment. 



]Voniis — a common disorder with all dogs. When detected, is easily 

 treated and cured by well-known remedies. 



Kennel-lameness — is a species of rheumatism. AVhcn intermittent, it is 

 kept in bounds by attention to warmth and dry bedding ; when chronic, 

 the hound is done. 



Fits — Hounds are peculiarly liable to fits, from the excitement of hunt- 

 ing. \\'hen they are attacked in the field, it is usually an epileptic fit, and 

 the treatment recommended is to plunge them immediately into water, to 

 rouse them. 



"I had rather give his carcase to my hounds." 



Midsuiinner Nig^hfs Dream, act Hi, scene 2. 



" Look, as the full-fed hound or gorged hawk, 

 Unapt for tender smell or sptedy flight, 

 AFake slow pursuit." S/!akcs/>eare's Poems. 



Feeding is an important item in the care of hounds; much mischief 

 may be caused by injudicious management in this respect. The usual 

 materials for kennel feeding are — horse-flesh (not in too great quantities) 

 made into broth, mixed with shreds of the meat ; meat biscuits, if not too 

 expensive; oatmeal and Indian meal, in porridge or puddings. 



On hunting-days, hounds are not fed in the morning, as they run and 

 hunt the better for being shar[>set. ^Vhile returning from tlie chase, the 

 brutes will eat any manner of filth ; the most putrid carcase of any animal is 

 welcome lo them. If it is possible for them to find any object too "strong" 

 for them to eat, they will roll in it witli the greatest gusto, and carry the 

 effluvium away with them, to the intense enjoyment of their comrades, who 

 flock round them like "bees round a cask." Those who walk home with 

 hounds are sometimes regaled with the scent of a piece of rotten fish picked 

 out from a roadside waste heap, which some fiend persists in carrying in his 

 mouth until discovered and made to drop it. Like other canine animals, 

 hounds possess the peculiarity of not perspiring through the skin, but when 

 heated in the chase, loll out their tongues like wolves, and drop salivary 

 fluid. 



