32 INTRODUCTION. 



stout limbs, and generally a long coat. Such breeds 

 are still seen in the northern parts of Europe. In some 

 parts of Ireland, and in the Highlands of Scotland also, 

 (besides a few specimens of real boar-hound) grey- 

 hounds of this kind are ])y no means uncommon. In 

 early times, the greyhound (partaking of the qualities of 

 the originals from whence he sprang) hunted as well by 

 scent as by sight; and with these united qualifications 

 he must have been very destructive to the larger kinds 

 of game, as deer, antelopes, wild goats, foxes, &c. 

 Such a dog was the Gaze-hound, of whose extraordinary 

 powers of vision, in selecting and keeping his game in 

 view, we have numerous accounts. But, as the exer- 

 tions of greyhounds became, by degrees, principally 

 confined to the chase of animals of extreme speed, par- 



seiits the uiost symmetric model of an animal formed for speed and 

 beauty combined, that it is possible to conceive. Buffon conjec- 

 tures that their original colour was cinnamon or fawn-like : *' lis 

 sont de couleur fanve-clair pour la plupart." The greyhounds of for- 

 mer times appear to have been remarkable for their fidelity and the 

 warmth of their attachment; and these properties are still apparent 

 in the rough coarse kinds : but in our improved breed, every quality 

 seems absorbed in the acquisition of extreme speed : so true it is, 

 that an extraordinary degree of excellence in one particular com- 

 monly proves a hindrance to superiority in others ; by which wise 

 provision, a great degree of equality is maintained throughout Na- 

 ture's works. 



For a more full account of this important variety of the canine 

 race, I would recommend the reader to a Treatise on GreyhoundSy 



attributed to Sir Wm. C , a Baronet of sporting celebrity. In 



this elegant and classic production will be found a fund of interest- 

 ing and instructive matter relative to the breeding, rearing, and 

 treatment of these dogs. According to the modesty of its author, it 

 is besprinkled with " a few classical flowers ;" but the reader will 

 lind it a gay parterre, where literature and sporting change hands at 

 every turn. 



