140 The Fox Terrier. 



endangered his good name by endeavouring to place 



him on a par with the " whippet," or snap dog, and 



utilising him for the chasing of rabbits in an enclosure. 



Nature never intended the fox terrier for a rabbit courser. 



Had she done so his form would have been much more 



slim than it actually is, and his lines built upon those 



of a greyhound in miniature rather than upon those of a 



sturdy terrier. Still, this somewhat plebeian diversion at one 



time appeared to have taken considerable hold of a certain 



section of the community, the members of which, on 



Saturday afternoons especially, and upon other holidays, 



hied to some field or other, and enjoyed themselves by 



letting a rabbit out of a hamper, and, after allowing bunny 



a certain start, unslipped a couple of terriers, which ran 



after and in ninety-nine times out of a hundred killed it. 



Had the rabbits a fair chance of regaining their liberty, 



as is the case with the pigeon when liberated from a 



trap, or even with the hare as run at the inclosed 



meetings (which, by the way, have never flourished and 



will never do so), this fox terrier coursing would be 



legitimate sport. As the rabbits have not an ordinary 



chance of escape, and, preparatory to their being set down 



in front of the terrier, have been confined since their 



capture in a hamper or some similar receptacle, I must 



look upon the thing with disfavour, and altogether fail to 



acknowledge it as in any way likely to improve the fox terrier 



as he is, and as all his admirers would wish him to remain. 



Although, under these circumstances, the rabbits have 



little opportunity to regain their liberty, their chances of so 



doing are greater than that which was afforded by the 



individual who possessed a terrier and a wild rabbit, which 



he coursed in his cellar. The rabbit was given a start of 



