SMOOTH GREYHOUND. 27 



In describing the greyhound it is usual, and indeed almost 

 necessary, to consider him as used for the two purposes already 

 mentioned, that is to say, — 1st, as the private, and 2ndly, as the 

 public, greyhound; for though externally there is no difference 

 whatever, yet in the more delicate organization of his brain and 

 nerves there is some obscure variation, by which he is rendered 

 more swift and clever in the one case, and more stout and honest 

 in the other. In the horse the eye readily detects the thorough- 

 bred, but this is not the case here ; for there are often to be met 

 with most beautifully formed greyhounds of private blood, which 

 it would be impossible to distinguish from the best public breeds 

 by their appeai'ance, but which in actual trial would be sure to 

 show defective speed and cleverness. This being the case I shall 

 first describe the general characteristics of both, and afterwards 

 those in which they differ from one another. 



The points of the greyhound will be described at length, because 

 as far as speed goes, he may be taken as the type to which all 

 other breeds are referred ; but, before going into these particulars, 

 it Avill be interesting to examine the often-quoted doggrel rhymes, 

 which are founded upon a longer effusion originally published by 

 Wynkyn de Worde in 1496, and to institute a comparison between 

 the greyhound, of the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries. In the 

 former of these periods it was said that this dog should have — 



" The head of a snake, 

 Tlie neck of the drake, 

 A back like a beam, 

 A side like a bream, 

 The tail of a rat, 

 And the foot of a cat." 



