14 NOTITIA VENATICA. 



rough, and, as it is tormecl, sour about tlieir muzzles and chaps. I saw 

 them in the season of 1834, hoth in the kennel and in the field, and was 

 much struck with their appearance and the excellence of their work ; 

 they were most remarkably steady from all descriptions of riot, quick 

 and yet patient, very determined, and altogether particularly calculated 

 for the sort of country they hunted — a cold, flinty, and cheerless tract, 

 Avith immense woodlands. If young breeders of hounds, Avho reside in 

 what are denominated the " slow " or " provincial " countries, would 

 encourage that style of animal, instead of going to the most fashionable 

 kennels, merely because they wish to have a pack resembling in apjiear- 

 ancc those which hunt in the grass countries of Leicestershire or Rut- 

 landshire, they would have a much greater chance of possessing good 

 as Avell as handsome hounds. Wheu I say that the Vine hounds look 

 rough in their faces, I beg to be understood that I am not describing 

 that roiagh, vulgar-looking animal, so constantly seen in every village in 

 Wales ; for although the hard and ferocious character of the foxhound 

 is stamped on them, a better shaped, more powerful and truly sporting 

 jiack does not exist in the world.* They are remarkably clear in their 

 throats, and strikingly level. Hounds bred in a high scenting country, 

 accustomed to be ridden over and pressed upon every day they go out, 

 become much wilder than those which are left more to themselves ; and 

 this practice being continued from one generation to another, engenders 

 in them a second nature. When in the study of animals we consider 

 nothing but their organic structure, we often fail to ascertain a sufficient 

 cause for their pecuhar modes of action, and for the way in which they 

 perform the various parts assigned to them in life. The organisation 

 of all dogs is very nearly the same, yet their destination is far from 

 similar ; the lot of one is cast in the thickest woodlands, while the life 

 of the other is spent in an open country, the powers of speed being- 

 much oftener put to the test than the more refined oi-gans of the nose. 

 A difi^erence in the powers and the dispositions of animals must arise 

 from the force of education, as well as from the force of rejiroduction. 

 It is an old and trite saying, but nevertheless true, that " like begets 

 like," and-in no instance is it more applicable than in the breeding of 

 hounds : if the vices of even colours fail to show themselves in the first, 

 they are frequently perceptible in three, or even four generations after ; 

 still by degrees their natures become changed, and after a certain num- 

 ber of years, mider the management of a judicious breeder, the pack 

 which was characterized by its impetuosity, Avildness, and skirting, be- 

 comes no less celebi'atcd for its capabilities in hunting and its steadiness 

 in work. We might go one step further, and even say that the organic 

 structure of animals might be changed. In the natural history of the 

 dog it has been stated that all that tribe descended from the shepherd's 

 dog ; and that, from various causes after their removal to other coun- 

 tries, they became, some greyhounds, some mastifis, some spaniels, 

 &c. ; many of the foxhounds of the present day resemble greyliounds 



* Mr. Muster's last i)uck were chiefly desceiuleil from tlie Vine ; e. g. Voucher, 

 Broker, Lionel, ike. 



