112 NOTITIA VENATIGA, 



])erf'orraecl is quite sufficient. If you keep tlieir insides cleau and cool, 

 their outsides will naturally become the same ; if any of them appear 

 foul in their bodies, or become subject to worms, besides the above course 

 of physic, they should have administered to them an emetic, consisting 

 of four grains of tartar emetic, and a ball composed of calomel and an- 

 timony, the recipe for which I have given in the chapter on physic. 



The condition of hounds, although a subject continually discussed, is 

 not much understood by the common run of sportsmen. How frequently 

 we hear high encomiums passed on a pack of hounds for their^ne condi- 

 tion, when, in fact, they are a mere army of phantoms and skeletons, 

 without one atom of muscle. Some mou think that a pack of hounds 

 must be drawn as fine as hurdles to run, and as long as their ribs and 

 points are all visible they are considered in splendid going condition. 

 There is no other animal wliich Avill endure reducing and raising again 

 in condition in so short a period as the game-cock and the dog Avill ; 

 nevertheless, the latter, with all his natural propensities to improve 

 most rapidly, in being prepared for hard work must be allowed a certain 

 time necessaiy to get \\n\\ fit io perform such extraordinary labour as the 

 foxhound is called upon to endure. Not only from mine own experience, 

 but also relying on the opinion of those whose judgment I could depend 

 upon, I should say that a dog, whether hound, greyhound, or any 

 other dog used in the chase, was at the greatest perfection of con- 

 dition when raised again to a certain pitch, after he had been re- 

 duced below that pitch, than if he had been merely reduced from a 

 lusty state of body down to that certain standard of condition. The 

 flesh which is then on him is all muscular and healthy, Avhereas in the 

 case of his being merely reduced down to his condition, he is more fre- 

 quently than not as loose and flabby as a Smithfield bullock. Perhaps 

 some of my readers may ask, " Why then begin Avith hounds in 

 cub-hunting in /(f^^/i condition, as they generally become lower after ? " 

 1 answer, that they had been prepared for three or four months, 

 or ought to have been ; moreovei', they generally sink a little after 

 a week or ten days' work, and then go up again, after the first 

 feverish excitement of cub-hunting is got through, before the regular 

 season begins. A hound to be well and really fit to go should not 

 only look clear and bright in his coat, with the muscles on his 

 shoulders, loins, and thighs well developed, but he should also be 

 firm to the touch, and be able to travel on the road at a jog-trot, 

 with his month shut, and his stern up over his back. His eyes 

 should be clear and free from any mucous secretion ; when much of 

 which is seen in a morning in the inner corners of his eyes you 

 may be well assured that he is feverish, usually the result of hard 

 work, without a due and proper preparation beforehand. He should 

 also not only empty himself with freedom, his evacuation being firm and 

 free from a bilious or slimy mixture, but he should also stab? without 

 difficulty, and rather frequently than otherwise, or he should have 

 administered to him in his feed a small quantity of cream of tartar 

 for about two days, which will set mattei's all right on that point. 

 Take a handJul of the skin of a hound on his l)ack and [lull it up. 



