18 THE NOBLE SCIENCE. 



hounds, nor even to retail any of the thousand and one 

 mfalhble specifics for the cure of distemper, and other 

 diseases, all of which would be borrowed from, or be 

 more or less infringing upon the province of, works 

 already, for the most part, familiar to sportsmen. It is 

 true that I could swell a volume, by recapitulating the . 

 daily results of conferences with those possessing suffi- 

 cient practical lore upon these matters, were such my 

 object ; nay, this might, perhaps, constitute the only 

 valuable product of my penmanship, but I question 

 whether I should thus add to the stock of useful 

 maxims which I desire to inculcate, or further my de- 

 sign of offering a cursory view of the general and grand 

 ruling principles of fox-hunting, which it will be my 

 endeavour to make comprehensible and acceptable to 

 those friends for whose amusement or edification alone 

 these pages are intended. I must repeat, that I am 

 drawing solely upon my knowledge and memory for 

 facts, and should, perhaps, state that I am not only 

 unaided and alone, but actually and literally writing, 

 daily, in a room unfurnished with one printed article of 

 any description, and wholly devoid of all access to 

 books from which I might cull rich matter for my own.* 

 "With regard to hounds, let us consider what stamp may 

 be, from experience, pronounced to be best calculated 

 for our provincial district, bearing ever in mind that 



* More tlian half the book was written in leisure hours during a sum- 

 mer tour, and a considerable portion on board Mr. Acker's fine schooner 

 yacht, the Dolphin. 



