12 THE OLD BERKS HUNT 



the scent an hour after the Hghter Beagles 

 have given up. Their slowness also dis- 

 poses them to receive the directions of the 

 Huntsman; but as they are able to hunt a 

 cold scent, they are too apt to make it so, 

 by their want of speed and tedious exactness. 

 These Dogs were once common in every part 

 of this Island, and were formerly much larger 

 than they are at present ; the breed, which 

 has gradually been declining, and its size 

 studiously reduced by a mixture of other 

 kinds, in order to increase its speed, is now 

 almost extinct." 



These, no doubt, are the hounds Shakes- 

 peare had in mind : — 



" My Hounds are bred out of the Spartan 



Kind 

 So flewed, so sanded ; and their heads 



are huno- 

 With ears that sweep away the morning 



dew ; 

 Crook-knee'd and dew lap'd like Thes- 



salian bulls 

 Slow in pursuit, but match'd in mouth 



like bells 

 Each under each." 



— Midsu7mner Nighfs Dream, iv. i. 



In the latter part of the eighteenth century 

 the process of differentiation was nearly com- 



