VARIETIES OF THE DOG. 79 



HUNTING-KENNELS. 



It is time, however, to speak of the kennel, whether we regard the 

 sporting architecture of Mr. G. Tattersall, or the scientific inquiries of 

 Mr. Vyner, or a sketch of the noble buildings at Goodwood. 



The lodging-rooms should be ceiled, but not plastered, with ventilators 

 above and a large airy window on either side. The floors should be laid 

 \vith flags or paved with bricks. Cement may be used instead of mortar, 

 and the kennels will then be found wholesome and dry. The doorways 

 of the lodging-houses will generally be four feet and a half wide in the 

 clear. The posts are rounded, to prevent the hounds from being injured 

 when they rush out. The benches may be made of cast iron or wood ; 

 those composed of iron being most durable, but the hounds are more 

 frequently lamed in getting to them. The wooden benches must be bound 

 with iron, or the hounds will gnaw or destroy them. A question has 

 arisen, whether the benches should be placed round the kennel, or be in 

 the centre of it, allowing a free passage by the side. There is least 

 danger of the latter being affected by the damp. The walls should be 

 wainscoted to the height of three feet at least. This will tend very con- 

 siderably to their comfort. 



The floors of all the courts should be arranged in nearly the same way ; 

 the partition walls being closed at the bottom, but with some iron-work 

 above. The doorways should also be so contrived, that the huntsman may 

 be able to enter whenever he pleases. The boiling-house should be at as 

 great a distance from the hunting-kennel as can be managed, continuing 

 to give warmth to the infirmary for distempered puppies, and at the same 

 time being out of the way of the other courts. 



Mr. Vyner gives an interesting account of the young hound's kennel : 

 " This building," he says, " should be as far from the other lodging- 

 rooms as the arrangements of the structure will allow. There is also an 

 additional court, or grass-yard, an indispensable requisite in the puppies* 

 kennel. The size must be regulated according to the waste land at the 

 end of the building ; but the longer it is, the better. At the farther end 

 of the grass-court is a hospital for such young hounds as are distempered, 

 so contrived as to be remote" from the other kennels, and, at the same time, 

 within an easy distance of the boiling-ho-jse, whence it is apparently ap- 

 proached by an outside door, through which the feeder can constantly pass 

 to attend to the sick hounds without disturbing the healthy lots. Although 

 this lodging-room is warmed by the chimneys of the boiling-house, it must 

 also be well ventilated by two windows, to which shutters must be attached ; 

 ventilation and good air being quite as necessary to the cure of distemper 

 as warmth." 



KENNEL LAMENESS. 



We now proceed to a most important and ill-understood subject the 

 nature and treatment of kennel lameness. It is a subject that nearly 

 concerns the sportsman, and on which there are several and the most con- 

 trary opinions. 



This is a kind of lameness connected with, or attributable to, the kennel. 

 According to the early opinion of Mr. Asheton Smith, who is a good 

 authority, it was referrible to some peculiarity in the breed or management 

 of the hounds ; but, agreeably to a later opinion, it is dependent on situ* 



