DOG. 281 



body long; its chest deep; the ears long and 

 sweeping; and the tone of its voice peculiarly 

 deep and mellow. Its power of smelling is exqui- 

 site, and it is said to be able to distinguish the scent 

 an hour after the lighter beagles have given it up. 

 These dogs are said to have been once very com- 

 mon in every part of England ; and to have been 

 much larger than at present; the breed having, as 

 it should seem, been gradually suffered to decline, 

 and its size to diminish by the mixture of other 

 lighter kinds, in order to increase its speed, so 

 that the race is supposed to be almost extinct. 

 This (says Mr. Bewick) seems to have been the 

 kind so accurately described by Shakspear. 



" My Hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind, 

 So flewed, so sanded, and their heads are hung 

 With ears that sweep away the morning dew; 

 Crook -knee'd and dewlap'd, like Thessalian bulls - } 

 Slow in pursuit ; but matched in mouth like bells, 

 Each under each." 



The Hound, like some other dogs, has com- 

 monly a spurious toe on the hind feet. 



Blood Hound. This is a very large Dog, taller 

 and more beautifully formed than the old English 

 Hound, and superior to most others in speed, 

 strength, and sagacity. The Blood-hound was in 

 much esteem with our ancestors, for the pursuit 

 of robbers, &c. It was mostly of a reddish or 

 brown colour. " A person of quality (says Mr. 

 Boyle), to make a trial whether a young Blood- 

 hound was well instructed, caused one of his ser- 

 vants to walk to a town four miles off, and then to 



v. i. P. ii. 19 



