220 THE NOBLE SCIENCE. 



and could have been suspended in mid-air, be would 

 have left no other than visible signs of his identity. 

 But to come now to "the most convincing and satisfac- 

 tory proofs" on my side of the question : — Is it only 

 that eagerness of excitement, which will occasionally 

 elicit a whimper from young hounds? — Is it the confident 

 anticipation of what is awaiting them on the other side 

 of a river, which causes the oldest hounds in the pack 

 to throw their tongues with joy, when stemming the 

 current of some rapid stream ? or is it tliat they greedily 

 inhale the scent, nowhere more strong than where the 



" fuming vapours rise, 

 And hang upon the gently purling brook ]" 



Surely, there must be little enough of touch,, or pad 



scent, in the middle of the water ; yet with what avidity 



will terriers and spaniels follow upon the scent of a rat, 



or water-bird, across a river. I have been dwelHng, like 



an old southern hound, upon the subject ; have been 



minute, perhaps, even to prolixity in detail ; but I shall 



be excused by all who bear in mind, that if 



— " brevis esse laboro, 



Obscurus fio ;" 



and that it is not enough to say, that, amongst all 



highest extant authorities,* I have found none dissenting 



* Mr. Bell, Professor of Zoology at King's College, says, " The fox has 

 a subcaudal gland, which secietes an extremely fetid substance." — Clo- 

 quet, in the French Encydopanlia, says, " In the vicinity of the posterior 

 parts of the dog [tribe, to which foxes belong], are two small pear-shaped 

 receptacles, from the inside of which a thick unctuous matter exudes, of 

 a fetid odour, which escapes through an opening in their margin, by the 

 assistance of several clusters of muscular fibres, in which these receptacles 

 are enveloped." The same author, in speaking of the fat of these animals, 

 says, " In general it is nearly fluid, and, like the rest of the animal's 

 body, possesses an almost insupportable fetid odour." 



