HUNTING THE FOX 98 



does not mean to say that the Peterborough 

 Foxhound Show should be discontinued. Far 

 from it. The show is extremely valuable in that 

 it preserves a standard of symmetry. The danger 

 is that this standard of symmetry may become a 

 purely show-ring standard, instead of remaining a 

 standard of physical structure designed to enable 

 the Foxhound to tire and catch his Fox. But one 

 Foxhound Show is probably enough. The multi- 

 plication of shows might lead to pot-hunting with 

 Foxhounds, the most unthinkable of all calamities. 

 While we are on the subject of appearance, a 

 word may be said about rounding Hounds' ears. 

 This practice is a relic of an age when mutilation 

 of animals for the sake of appearance was much 

 more common than it is to-day. Horses' ears, 

 for instance, were cropped for no other reason 

 than to gratify contemporary fashion. There could 

 have been no other reason. It is urged that 

 Foxhounds' ears are still rounded for certain prac- 

 tical purposes, such as a healthy letting of blood, 

 and the avoidance of tearing the ears in brambles 

 and thorns. And on the other hand it can be 

 claimed that nature gave Hounds long ears to 

 protect the ear-hole from water getting into it. 

 Either of these reasons is open to argument. 

 But probably the principal reasons are that the 

 eye has become accustomed to rounded ears, and 

 that inasmuch as the different shape and length 



