THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 373 



that is its tip, which, when in that state, is an in- 

 fallible proof of his being a good and not a slack drawer 

 of covers, nor shy of facing the strongest of them in 

 chase. 



" But to return to breeding the foxhound. In the 

 breeding of some animals, beauty of shape is often 

 dependent on the caprice of fashion, or the peculiar taste 

 of the breeder; but in the breeding of hounds no such 

 latitude can be given ; for here beauty, or true symmetry 

 of shape, is alone in reference to idility, and adaptation of 

 parts to the purposes to which they are to be applied. Yet the 

 breeder of foxhounds has one point further to go ; he 

 must, as I have already said, guard against propensities 

 which run in the blood of those animals, perhaps stronger 

 than their good qualities do, and will, sooner or later, 

 break out in their work, if they really exist. In the 

 election, then, of a dog for a bitch, or a bitch for a dog, 

 these matters must be most attentively considered ; and 

 no man should breed from hounds of either sex that come 

 under any or either of the following denominations, viz., 

 not of a tolerably docile sort, but very difficult to be made 

 to enter to their game ; or guilty of any of the faults I 

 have already enumerated ; and, above all things, if found 

 evidently deficient in nose. Good constitution should 

 likewise be looked to carefully ; but I would not reject a 

 stallion hound, or a brood bitch, merely for being slack 

 drawers, or for not being always at the head in chase, 

 provided they were themselves well bred, of good form, 

 and true to the line in cover and out. 



" As to the proper combination of form, that must be 

 self-evident to the breeder of hounds. If a bitch ia a 

 little high on her legs, or light, she should be put to a 

 short-legged, strong dog, and, of course, vice versa ; if 

 rather light in her tongue, that defect may also be 

 remedied by an opposite property in a dog. Defects in 

 legs and feet can only be remedied by such means ; and 

 fortunate is it for the owner of an otherwise perfect and 

 excellent bitch that such remedies are at hand. Length 

 and shortness of frame, when in excess, as well as coarse 

 points, are to be obviated and altered in the same way, 

 making allowance for the fact, that the laws of nature are 

 not invariable. Constitution can likewise be remedied by 

 having recourse to that which is good (and none so easily 

 detected as the dog's), and colour changed, if wished for. 



