Echoes of the Hunting Horn 



spoilt innumerable hunts. The only known antidote is 

 barbed wire. Invariably, foxes are immune to it. The 

 blister, however, is perfectly harmless to all concerned 

 if its dispenser wears racing silk instead of hunting 

 scarlet. 



The second category is composed of somewhat 

 different ingredients. Good nerves, good horses, good 

 craftsmanship in equal parts, a dash of genuine hound- 

 respect, a copious flavouring of courtesy, all mixed 

 carefully to make an exhilarating stimulant, to be used 

 judiciously when hounds are running. Its tonic pro- 

 perties are enhanced enormously, when at the first few 

 fences its qualities are displayed to an indecisive field. 

 At these first fences, however, it is more courteous to 

 enjoy its delights behind the Master's back. That good 

 man will acquire no grey hairs as a result of its being 

 used. Neither will hounds suffer any agonies. Being 

 harmless, no barbed-wire antidotes or restrictions are 

 necessary, and, most important, it bodes ill for foxes. 



Foxes are wary animals. They have to be, or they 

 would be extinct long ago. The hounds that hunt them 

 do not run by sight; they depend solely on their noses. 

 The smell of their quarry is their principal guidance. 

 Nasal membranes are very delicate and very sensitive 

 organs and are instantly susceptible to any alien taints. 

 When hunting, hounds have to contend with the inter- 

 fering smells of cattle, sheep, goats, rabbits, hares, 

 weasels, farmyard manure, artificial fertilisers, motor- 

 car-exhaust gases, soil varieties, and countless other 

 pollutions of atmosphere. The task of being able to 



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