20 THE GREYHOUND. 



As when the impatient Greyhound, slipped from far, 



Bounds o'er the glade to course the fearful hare, 



She in her speed does all her safety lie, 



And he with double speed pursues his prey, 



O'erruns her at the sitting turn; but licks 



His chaps in vain; yet blows upon the flix. 



She seeks the shelter which the neighbouring covert gives, 



And, gaining it, she doubts if yet she lives. 



The laws and details of coursing, and the preparation 

 of the dogs, are fully treated of hereafter, but the pre- 

 ceding remarks appeared necessary to a clear comprehen- 

 sion of the description we shall now enter upon. 



In forming an opinion of a dog whether in selecting him 

 for some special purpose of work, or merely choosing the 

 best out of a lot in the prize ring first impressions, which 

 are occasionally deceptive, get confirmed into prejudices 

 and mislead the judgment. But in the great majority of 

 cases, to the man who knows what he is looking at, what 

 he is looking for, and what he has a reasonable right to 

 expect, the first impression conveyed to the mind by the 

 general outline or contour, and the way it is filled in, will 

 be confirmed on a close, critical, and analytical examination 

 of the animal point by point; and it is only by such close 

 and minute examination that a judge can become thoroughly 

 master of his subject, and arrive at a position where he 

 can give strong, clear, and intelligible reasons for the 

 opinions he has formed and the decision he has given. 

 Moreover, there is that to be weighed and taken into 

 account in the final judgment on the dog's merits which 

 is referable to no part alone, and which can only be appre- 

 ciated on taking him as a whole that is, life that 

 indefinable something which evades the dissector's knife, 

 yet permeates the whole body; the centre power, which 



