COURSING. 39 



(or the younger Xenophon), are made evident, this one 

 very short quotation putting the case very clearly. Arrian 

 writes : " And that he (the elder Xenophon) was un- 

 acquainted with any breed of dogs resembling the Celtic 

 in point of swiftness is evident from these words : 

 'Whatever hares are caught by dogs become their 

 prey, contrary to the natural shape of the animal, or 

 accidentally/ Now, if he had been acquainted with the 

 Celtic breed I think he would have made the very same 

 remark on the dogs : ' Whatever hares the dogs do not 

 catch at speed, they fail of catching, in contradiction of 

 their shape, or from some accidental circumstance/ For 

 assuredly, when Greyhounds are in good condition, and 

 of high courage, no hare can escape them." This is clear 

 reasoning, by a practical sportsman, and is undeniable. 

 Our Greyhounds are formed for speed ; but no dog 

 hunting by scent is cast in the mould to run a hare down 

 by outpacing her. 



The introduction of the Greyhound into Italy and 

 Greece had taken place at least a century and a half 

 before the time of Arrian, for the dog is referred to by 

 writers of that period, including Yirgil, Ovid, and Gratius. 

 Ovid, in describing the fleetness of the Celtic Hound, 

 poetically identifies the Greyhound with the mythic Laelaps 

 fashioned by Vulcan, and, after changing hands as often 

 as a modern show winner, eventually presented by Procris 

 to Cephalus ; but the said Laelaps was described by Pollux 

 as of the Molossian or Mastive type. Ovid's description 

 of a single-handed course, as translated by Dryden, 

 and given on page 20, is almost positive evidence 

 that he was a practical courser ; and his description of 



