THE NOBLE SCIENCE. 223 



from " the pad of the fox touching the gi'ound," I have 

 done ; with him I resign all contest, and shall be con- 

 tented to leave him " alone in his glory." 



I would willingly forbear any further notice of the 

 axioms contained in Mr. Smith's Diary; but as my 

 attention, and that of the sporting world, has been 

 evoked by their publication, I cannot allow to pass for 

 gospel, stated opinions upon most interesting questions, 

 hitherto treated hypothetically, even by the most scien- 

 tific inquirers, more especially when Mr. Smith's dictum 

 happens to be at variance with the best established and 

 generally received opinions. It is necessary to make 

 extract, literatim et verhatim, of one other half of a sen- 

 tence : — '* It is thought, by some, that the reason why 

 foxes are not oftener killed late in the day, after a hard 

 and long run when it is nearly dark, that it is owing to 

 their strength recovering as their natural time for exer- 

 cise comes on ; but the more probable cause for hounds 

 not killing their fox oftener than they do at this time 

 is, that as night comes on in the winter, the wind gets 

 much colder, and the damp air, or rather the dew, which 

 falls (and does not rise, as some suppose, on any flat 

 surface ; for instance, the top of a gate will be covered 

 with water by the dew, when the under side is perfectly 

 dry), and it would depress the scent, and prevent its 

 expansion." — Now, I am not going to break a lance 

 with the genius who can advance so very self-evident a 

 proposition, as that a fox, after a hard and long run, 

 recovers his strength about his natural time for exer- 



