CORSES AND HOUNDS. 61 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER ON HOUNDS. 



" Qui studet optatam cursu contingere metam 

 Multa tulit fecitque puer, sudavit et alsit, 

 Abstinuit Yenere et vino." — Hokace. 



CHAPTER IX 



Eemarks on hunting in general, and specially on fox-hunting — Beasts fit for 



hunting that have since become extinct — Fox-hunting the substitute for 

 that of animals of a higher class — Its antiquity — The sheep dog the pro- 

 totype of the canine race — Goldsmith's theory thereupon, and its probable 

 explanation — Curious and loose definitions of Linn^us and Dr. Johnson 

 • — Refutation of the theory of the sheep dog's claim to antiquity — General 

 views of the species ranged imder the respective genera of animals — The 

 greyhoimd or gaze-hovmd — Another theory of the oi'igin of breeds of dogs, 

 and probable reasons for the difference. 



The observations lam now aboutto make on the subject of hounds 

 are not intended to provoke the criticism of those, who, whe- 

 ther as masters of hounds or huntsmen, may possess equal, 

 if not superior knowledge to myself in all that relates 

 to their management. I neither invite nor deprecate their 

 censure; my object is, to instruct the uninitiated in the 

 mysteries of the ars venatica, and defend the often abused noble 

 animals, which contribute so largely to our health and amuse- 

 ment, and whose services are often ill requited — the horse and 

 the hound. 



Hunting may be considered not merely as a pastime or recrea- 

 tion, but as a science also. Every man who wishes to excel in 

 any of the arts of angling, shooting, riding, boxing, fencing, 

 &c., would require first some instruction, and afterwards con- 

 siderable practice, to enable him to become a proficient in the 

 management of the rod, the gun, the horse, the gloves, or the 

 foil. So, also, with regard to the games of chess, cricket, &c. 

 They are all intended for the same purpose — amusement, but 

 demand, more or less, the exercise of mental as well as cor- 

 poreal exertions. There is also an art oi riding well to hounds, 

 the knowledge and practice of which are as necessary to the 



