SMOOTH GREYIIOUxVD. 35 



bulldog ; but, as notbing is known of the time when the colour 

 first appeared, no reliance can be placed on the bypothcsis. 



The texture of the coat is the last point upon which any re- 

 liance is placed, but, as far as my experience goes, there is littJe to 

 be gained from it. Nevertheless, I should always discard a very 

 soft woolly coat as being an evidence of a weak constitution, unable 

 to bear exposure to weather, and, on that account, unfit for the 

 purposes of the courser. The old breeds were, many of them, very 

 bald about the cheeks and thighs, and this used to be considered 

 a mark of good blood ; but, since the intermixture of the rough 

 greyhound, most of our best sorts have been free from this pecu- 

 liarity, and many of them have had hard rough coats, quite unlike 

 the fine and thin hair, which was formerly so highly prized. My 

 own impression is in favour of a firm, glossy, and somewhat greasy- 

 feeling, coarse coat, which stands wetting well, and at the same 

 time looks healthy and handsome to the eye. 



Various distinct breeds or strains have long been known as 



the Newmarket, Wiltshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, and smooth 



Scotch greyhounds ; but these are now so completely amalgamated 



that it is useless to attempt a description of them. Twenty years 



ago, the Newmarket dog was a distinct animal from that used in 



Wiltshire, but it would be wholly impossible in the present day to 



find a single specimen of either uncrossed with the blood of some 



other variety. If, however, any of my readers wish, from motives 



of curiosity, for a definite description of these strains, it may be 



found in " The Greyhound," where they are all described most 



minutely. Public coursing has now reached such a pitch, that 



D 2 



