THE NOBLE SCIENCE. 187 



windows and doors of our chambers, but not during 

 the period of their occupation, in the hunting season ; 

 nor should the zephyrs of the northern blast be playing 

 uncontrolled over the slumbering bodies of hounds, 

 worn out with the toil and heat of chase. They huddle 

 all together on their litter, courting, by every means in 

 their power, the warmth by which all nature is revived 

 and nourished. No kennel is perfect without the means 

 of warm ventilation, which may easily be supplied by 

 flues, where the copper of the boiling-house is contig- 

 uous, as it generally is, to the lodging-houses. As 

 soon as the hounds emerge reeking from their baths, 

 they should be fed. Some have been of opinion, that 

 they should first be made comfortable on their beds ; 

 but I am inclined to think, that the sooner they are 

 supplied with the support which exhaustion from fatigue 

 so much demands, the better ; they are then turned, for 

 a brief space, into their airing yard, and then consigned 

 to their dormitory for the night, to be disturbed only 

 by once being driven off their beds to stretch them- 

 selves. Their food, though warm, should not be hot, 

 or it may have a prejudicial effect upon their noses ; 

 as it is reasonable to suppose that the delicate sense 

 of smell may be affected by the act of constantly inhal- 

 ing the steaming fumes, so grateful when in less imme- 

 diate contact with their olfactory nerves. The idea of 

 barleymea], or, indeed, of any substitute for the best old 

 oatmeal that can be procured at any price, has long 

 been exploded in kennels of any pretension ; nor will 



