liKKKDING AND JIUXTIXG OF FOXHOUNDS. 07 



would run away from a foxhound witli a IkuI one. 



Therefore, the very first idea that should take root 



in a huntsman's head would be to breed for nose, 



and not for shape alone. If you can find hounds 



who possess nose and shape combined, then make 



the largest use you can of the lucky fact ; but 



always remeniber that it is scoit that kills the fox, 



that the tender nose enables the hound to feel the 



scent and run upon it, and according as the scent 



serves so will the pace he. Without a nose, the best 



legs and feet are rmll and void. 



Perhaps the most unaccountable thing of all the 



many wondrous items of the world is the fact of 



scent — Avhat it is, or what it is not. What makes it 



good or bad, what weather governs it the most, 



whence it arises, why it fails or holds, and what 



it is that so mysteriously taints the ground with 



a line of scent from the flying ^nimal, that holds 



for miles the pursuing foe to his continuous and 



utmost speed, ^^ stern down and head up," as if 



hound and fox were running in the same groove. 



" Scent," in regard to hounds, has nothing to do 



with the more vulgar appellation '' smell." Unless 



an occult something in the air serves Inm, the best 



of legs and feet ever known to hound must either 



F 2 



