The Bloodhound. 29 



kept in this country for hunting purposes, still, with 

 the many admirers of the race, there is little fear of 

 the strain being allowed to become of the past. 



As already hinted, our bloodhound has, in reality, 

 suffered less from a craze to breed for certain 

 exaggerated features, than some other dogs have 

 done. He is still a fairly powerful and large hound, 

 with great thickness of bone, well sprung ribs and 

 considerable power behind. I rather fancy that, like 

 most large sized dogs, he fails more in his loins, 

 and hind legs, than elsewhere, nor does he, as a 

 rule, carry so much muscle as a foxhound. No 

 doubt in head and ears he has much improved since 

 the time he was kept for the public good at the 

 expense of the inhabitants of the Scottish borders. 



Some of our modern hounds, have been simply 

 extraordinary in what are technically called " head " 

 properties. Perhaps the finest hound in this respect 

 was Captain Clayton's Luath XL, a fawn in colour, 

 a huge specimen of his variety, weighing over io61b., 

 but unfortunately spoiled by his execrable fore legs 

 and feet. On the contrary, Mrs. Humphries' Don, 

 that once did a considerable amount of winning, 

 excelled in legs and feet, and loins a plain- 

 headed hound, always much over estimated. Mr. 

 E. Nichols had a dark coloured hound, called 

 Triumph, that excelled in head and ears, and perhaps 



