ON COUUSINC, 



143 



WintxM' i«; not. ])ropitious for rearing pu])pies, more especially on ^" 

 account of the want of milk : - and sunuiier is distressing to 

 the dams for suckling. Autunui is worse than spring for this 

 reason, that the winter arrests the whelps before they are 

 thoroughly formed. ^ 



Ai>. XXIX. 



The Cynosopliium specifies January and February as tlie best breeding months. 

 " La droite saison," says Fouilloux, " en laquelle doivent naistre est en Mars, Avril, La Venerie. 

 et May, que le temps est tempore, et que les chaleurs ne sont Irop vehementes." P* ^* 



lie gives the same reasons as our author for avoiding summer and autumn, and is, of 

 course, followed verbatim by Turberviile. Markliam would " put them together to Countrey Con- 

 ingender and breed, eyther in January, February, or Marcli, according as they shall ^" '"^".f* ' '' 

 grow proud ; for those are the three most principal! monthes in the yeare for hound, 

 bitches, or bratches, to be limed in : not but tliat they may conceive and bring forth 

 as good whelps in other monthes ; but because there will be much losse of time in 

 the entering of them," He farther enjoins that " the moone be eyther in the signe 

 Aquarius or Gemini; for it is held amongst the best huntsmen of this land, tliat the 

 whelpes that are ingendred under those two signes, wil never runne mad, and for the 

 most part the littsr will have at least double so many dogge whelpes as bitch 

 whelpes." 



2. 'AAAois re Kal airopia yaXuKTOs. The want of this essential article of nutriment 

 renders the winter objectionable for the rearing of whelps ; but its abundance in the 

 spring gives to this season an additional claim : 



passim nam lactis abundans 

 Tempus adest, albent plenis et oviiia mulctris. 



Nemesian. 

 Cyneg. vs. 158. 



3. "On x^^l^" eTti\afJi.pdi'ei to, anvXaKia. The greyhound puppy is remarkably 

 tender and susceptible of cold ; indeed Fronto says that the whelp of the pastoral 

 dog requires to be fostered in warmth, Sucrxe^M^poi/ 7ap eVrt tovto rh ^Siov : and if an 

 animal, necessarily of a hardy constitution, be, when young, impatient of severe cold, 

 we shall readily acknowledge the importance of such a seasonable birth for the deli- 

 cate Celtic whelp, as will give him during his period of growth two summers to one 

 winter. " II faut, autant qu'il est possible, faire couvrir les lices a la fin de I'hiver Encyc. Method, 

 ou au commencement du prin terns, par la raison que les jeunes chiens, a qui les froids Les Chasses. 

 sont toujours nuisibles, ont pour eux deux etes centre un hiver, et qu'en consequence 

 ils s'elevent plus aisement." 



It is an essential part of kennel management to support brood bitches with the 

 most nutritious aliment. Varro (in Geoponicis) recommends barley bread, in prefe- 

 rence to whcaten, as more nutritious, with mutton broth from bones, &c. poured over 

 the bread, to be given before whelping ; and afterwards, barley meal with cow's or 

 goat's milk, boiled bones, and water to drink. The same instructions are delivered, 



Geoponic. 

 L. XIX. c. II 



p. 139. 



Geoponic. 

 L. XIX. c. I 



