SCIENCE OF FOXHUNTING. 21 



CHAPTER lY. 



Operations to be performed on foxhound whelps — Long and short 

 sterns — Vixen foxes and their cubs — A wily mamma — Playing 

 a game of hide-and-seek with conies — How to destroy worms and 

 parasites in puppies — Healing ointment for burns and scalds — 

 Blistering after firing cruel and unnecessary — Hothouse plants 

 and forced meat. 



The first operation to be performed on foxhound 

 puppies is the severance of the dew-claws by a 

 sharp pair of scissors, for the healing of which the 

 mother's tongue will suffice to make a perfect cure. 

 An inch of the4ail is also generally cut off when 

 the whelps are three or four days old ; but both 

 operations should not be performed at the same 

 time. It was an old custom, and a very silly one 

 in our opinion, to twist the end of the puppy's tail 

 round between your thumb and forefinger, the nail 

 of the former being pressed so sharply as to sever 

 the joint, and then to draw out the sinews or liga- 

 ments attached to it, and by so doing it was sup- 

 posed the loins of the whelp would be strengthened. 

 Why or wherefore, requires something more than 

 mere assertion. Some men fancy long sterns — 

 others short ones. The objection to the first is, 



