108 nOESES AND HOUNDS. 



CHAPTER XVm. 



*'Pood should be proportioned to work," and regulated according to the 

 season — Tissues of the body exhausted by violent exercise — Illus- 

 trations of mode of treatment, and making of the "puddings" — Ne- 

 cessity of air and exercise — Walls of kennels to be frequently whitewashed 

 — Means of preventing fleas, ticks, and dust — Proper kind of straw to be 

 used — Use of neatsfoot oil superseded by cleanliness — Use of sulphur — 

 Frequent brushing highly useful — Precautions to be taken in washing 

 dogs — The use of the warm bath after hunting doubtful, as also the prac- 

 tice of swimming dogs in ponds and rivers — Example of the latter — 

 Causes and treatment of eruptive diseases — Vacations and commencement 

 of training season — Cub-hvinting — An anecdote — I^umber of hounds 

 necessary. 



In the treatment of horses and hounds, the maxim "^/^aZ/ooc? 

 should he fvopoHioned to work,'' ought to be steadily kept in 

 view, and there is a fact in connexion with the feeding of all 

 animals, of great importance to be attended to, well known to 

 scientific cattle breeders, that warmth is to a certain extent 

 equivalent to food. 



The animal body may be compared to a furnace, which must 

 be kept up to a certain temperature, and, according to the ex- 

 ternal heat or cold, will the furnace require more or less fuel, 

 that is, food. We know also by experience that we are more 

 hungry, and can eat more in cold weather than in hot. Upon a 

 cold frosty day in winter a glass of hot brandy and water after 

 dinner would make a man feel only comfortable ; but the same 

 quantity of hot and hot in summer would throw him into a vio- 

 lent perspiration and make him feel «^?icomfortable. The quan- 

 tity and quality of food necessary to keep an animal in a certain 

 state of condition will vary according to the circumstances 

 under which he is placed, the temperature to which he is 

 exposed, or the amount of exercise he receives. Violent exer- 

 tion exhausts the tissues of the body, and this is the reason why 

 the flesh of a hunted hare is particularly tender. From these 

 facts and experiments will be seen the necessity of feeding 

 horses and hounds during the winter months as highly as pos- 

 sible, and keeping them warm also. They have to contend, at 

 the same time, v/ith cold without, which diminishes the vital 

 heat, and the exhaustion of the bodily tissues or matter within, 

 by the severe exercise of hunting. In other places I have 

 advocated a more liberal and rational treatment in feeding 

 hounds during the hunting season than is adopted in many ken- 

 nels, and I now adduce some additional facts in support of my 

 theory, or more correctly speaking, practice. 



