196 THE NOBLE SCIENCE. 



Wherever the master has the opportunity of doing hke- 

 wise, no Httle benefit must result from the practice, 

 even if it be unfair to suppose any actual disadvantage 

 arising from its omission. It must serve to keep up a 

 thorough acquaintance with his hounds, and with the 

 whole practical part of his system, the theory of which 

 should emanate from himself; but all this is not to be 

 recommended as a matter of duty, and performed as a 

 penance ; it must depend entirely upon a man's motives 

 for keeping hounds, his interest in all that concerns 

 them, and his degree of enjoyment in the office. If 

 " all beauty goes in at the mouth," so, may it be said, 

 does all power. The feeding of hounds, as regards 

 their condition, is one of the most essential proofs of 

 a huntsman's skill in kennel. To preserve that even 

 state of condition throughout the pack, so desirable, 

 he must be well acquainted with the appetite of every 

 hound. While some will feed with a voracity not ex- 

 ceeded by animal kind, others will require enticing to 

 their food. Mr. Meynell found the use of dry unboiled 

 oatmeal succeed better than any other plan he had tried, 

 with delicate hounds. He found that when once induced 

 to take to it, they would eat it greedily, and that it was 

 far more heartening than any other kind of aliment. 

 Delicate hounds may generally be tempted with a little 

 additional flesh, and with the thickest and best of the 

 trough ; but they require to be watched — must not be 



