498 Modern Dogs. 



supplies me with the following valuable history and 

 particulars of this hound : 



" Before I commence a description of the various 

 kinds of Bassets and their especial points, it might 

 be advantageous to touch upon the origin of the 

 word Basset, since it has been my misfortune, not 

 once but many times, to listen to the most absurd 

 reasons for the nomenclature of the hound. Briefly 

 the word basset means ' a low thing' or a ' dwarf,' 

 and it has a similar derivation to the words bassi- 

 nette, basset (the game), bastard, basse (a shoal), 

 and many others which it is unnecessary for me to 

 give, all of which have a common ancestor in the 

 French adjective ' bas.' 



" The meaning, then, of the word being almost 

 apparent on the face of it, notwithstanding the fact 

 that I have heard people urge with the greatest 

 gravity that the Basset is a hound used for the 

 purpose of hunting the basset, in the same way that 

 the foxhound pursues the fox. It might also be 

 interesting to observe how the hound became a 

 dwarf, for if it be a dwarf, and this is what its name 

 undoubtedly implies, it is obvious that it must be a 

 dwarf of some other race of hound. 



" It is also obvious that as there exist many 

 varieties of Bassets in France, Belgium, Austria, and 

 G< rmany, they too are dwarfs of some form of hounds. 



