NOSE AND TONGUE 



CHAPTER XIII 



NOSE, or scenting-power, is undoubtedly the 

 foxhound's most valuable quality, for no 

 matter how good he may be in other 

 respects, he cannot hunt a fox unless his olfactory 

 powers are of the best. Closely connected with 

 nose is tongue. The hound uses his voice when 

 he hits off the line of his fox, thus proclaiming 

 the glad tidings to other members of the pack 

 who immediately fly to him, and make the welkin 

 ring with their melody. To the fox-hunter there 

 is no music on earth like the cry of hounds. It 

 appeals to his ear and sporting instincts, and 

 warns him what hounds are doing and in which 

 direction they are running when they are in the 

 big woodlands, or racing over the open moor. 



The power of smell being one of the senses, any 

 impression made on the olfactory organs is con- 

 veyed by the nerves to the brain. The undue 

 employment of any individual sense is apt to 

 cause deterioration in one or other of the remaining 

 organs. In the greyhound for instance, we find 

 the power to run by sight highly developed, 

 whereas scenting power has deteriorated, owing 

 to the fact that the greyhound has not been allowed 

 to use his nose. With hounds on the other hand, 

 sight is subservient to nose, because they have 

 been bred for generations to hunt solely by scent. 

 As all the senses are intimately connected with 

 the brain, which is contained within the skull, 



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