SCIENCE OF rOXHUNTlNG. 8 



mischief is done — Jasper has stamped his image 

 upon three litters of whelps. Six couples are put 

 out to walk, and two return to the kennel so exceed- 

 ingly handsome, that the master cannot consent 

 to part with them. Their dams are excellent, 

 steady line hunters, without much dash or flash. 

 Why should not their progeny follow in their foot- 

 steps ? Yes, this is the question which no master 

 of foxhounds can answer : why the bad propensi- 

 ties of the father should generally prevail over the 

 good ones of the mother. Yet so it is. 



Mr. Delme Radcliffe, in his "Noble Science," 

 relates a similar fact which came under his own 

 notice, where a mare, having been first put to a 

 quagga or zebra, produced several foals afterwards 

 by different horses, all of which w^ere more or less 

 affected by the stripes of the quagga. He adds, 

 " There was no fancied peculiarity, no indistinct 

 semblance of action or manner, but ocular demon- 

 stration of certain plain and indelible signs of 

 stripes peculiar to one animal, affording incontesti- 

 ble evidence of his blood.'' The "going back,'' as 

 old huntsmen tell you, in colour, disposition, and 

 appearance, is of continued occurrence, making the 

 greatest caution necessary to wdiat sires the most 

 promising young brood-bitches are at first put, 

 since every succeeding litter may be injuriously 

 affected by want of judgment in this one instance. 



We have never considered it safe to breed from 

 any hound, male or female, until they had passed 

 through three seasons, by which time any evil 

 propensities will most probably have shown them- 



B 2 



