330 THE HOUND. 



writer, and afterwards in those of Mr. Beckford, 

 when it will appear that there is a strong resem- 

 blance in the portraits drawn bj each. " His head,"" 

 says the former, " ought to be of middle propor- 

 tion, rathor long than round ; his nostrils wide ; 

 his ears large ; his back bowed ; the fillets great ; 

 the haunches large ; the thighs well trussed ; the 

 ham straight ; the tail big near the reins, and the 

 rest slender to the end ; the leg big ; the sole of 

 the foot dry, and formed like a fox's, with the claws 

 great." The latter says, " There are necessary 

 points in the shape of a hound which ought always 

 to be attended to ; for if he be not a perfect sym- 

 metry, he will neither run fast nor bear much 

 work ; he has much to undergo, and should have 

 strength proportioned to it. Let his legs be straight 

 as arrows ; his feet round, and not too large ; his 

 shoulders back ; his breast rather wide than nar- 

 row ; his chest deep ; his back broad ; his head 

 small ; his neck thin ; his tail thick and brushy ; 

 if he carry it well so much the better." Now the 

 hound that would answer to either of these descrip- 

 tions would disgrace no man's kennel, and one re- 

 sembling the latter would be an ornament to it ; 

 but with regard to the former, it must be borne in 

 mind, that it is from the pen of a sportsman who 

 wrote a century and half ago, wlien, as has been 

 before observed, there is reason to believe no animal 

 in the perfect form of the modern fox-hound was to 

 be found in this or in any other country. Judges 

 of the animal, however, will be disposed to think 



