142 



ARRIAN 



CllAl'. 



XXVJII. 



slipped again to a hare, for fear of being destroyed by over- 

 straining or excessive fatigue. The dog likewise should not be 

 let loose after a hare until he is recovered from his exhaustion, 

 and invigorated by an interval of at least sixty days' rest. 

 After which there will be no obstacle to his beins; coursed. ^ 



Chap. XXIX. 



Breeding 

 season. 



The most favourable season for breeding is the spring of tlie 

 year, ^ as the temperature is mediate between hot and cold. 



FcECundos aperit partus matura gravedo 

 Continuo, largaque vides strepere omnia prole I 



Hist. Quadrup. 

 De Lane. 



Conrad Gesner remarks : " observavi in canibus nostris nonnullas catcllas gessisse 

 uterum prtEcise diebiis 60, nonnullas uno insuper aut duobus. Peregrina leporaria 

 nostra excellens tulit uterum diebus 63." 



5. Thv S/}peva fxi] ((pievai iirl \ay<Siv. This caution is unnecessary for modern 

 coursers, who rarely use the same hound in the field and kennel, for coursing the 

 hare, and supplying the pack with high-bred successors. But if the same dog be 

 employed for both purposes, the interval specified for the restoration of his powers is 

 not too long. The Cynosophium, however, suggests a shorter period of 30 days, 

 during which nutritious food is to be administered, and then the stallion hound may 

 be again taken out for sport, 



1. Although the rule has its exceptions, (see Brodajus in Oppianum, p. 42.) 

 Aristotle's observation, that animals in general op/iS irpos rhv avvSvaafuhv in the vernal 

 season, will be found correct. 



Virgil. Georg. 

 III. 272. 



Oppian. 



lialieut. L. i. 



vs. 473. 



Vere magis, quia vere calor retlit ossibus. 



ilapt Se yXvKvs olcnpos avayKaiyts ^AcppoSiTTis 

 Kal ydfjioi Tj^wctxn, Kul aWrjAoov (pi\6Tr]Tes 

 •naaiv '6croi yaldv re (pepeffffiov, a'l t ava K6\nov5 

 T]fpos, o'l t' afo, TtSvTov ipi^pvxv^ doveovrai. 



All the Cynegelica agree with Arrian as to the spring being the most fit season for 



De Venatione. breeding and rearing puppies. 'H yap cl>pa irphs rets av^riaeis raiv Kvviav KparlffTi] avrrj, 



^' ^"* says Xenophon ; and the same opinion is repeated by the copyists of later date, with 



little addition. Indeed, the reasons alleged in the text are the best that can be 



adduced for preferring the spring to any other season : 



Oppian. Cyneg. 

 L. I. V. 375. 



iiapi p-iv TTpiuTtara Ae'^os trdpavve Kvyeatrtv. 



