SYMMETRY OF THE FOX-HOUND. 385 



dog for a bitch, or a bitch for a dog, these matters 

 must be attentively considered ; and no man should 

 breed from hounds of either sex that come under 

 any of the following denominations, viz. not of a 

 docile sort, but very difficult to enter to their 

 game ; given to run mute ; to hang on a scent ; or to 

 be skirters ; not only not true to the line, but given 

 to run riot either in cover or in chase ; and, above 

 all things, if found evidently deficient in nose, and 

 not able to run at head. Good constitution should 

 likewise be looked to ; but we would not reject a 

 stallion hound, or a brood bitch, merely for being 

 slack drawers, or for not being always at the head 

 in chase, provided they were well bred, of good 

 form, and true to the line, in cover, and out. 



As to the proper combination of form, that must 

 be self-evident to the breeder of hounds. If a bitch 

 is a little high on her leg, or light, she should be 

 put to a short-legged, strong dog, and of course 

 vice vet'sd ; if rather light in her tongue, that de- 

 fect may be remedied by an opposite property in a 

 dog. The defects in legs and feet can only be re- 

 medied by such means ; and fortunate is it for the 

 owner of an otherwise perfect and excellent bitch, 

 that such remedies are at hand. Length and short- 

 ness of frame, as well as coarse points, are all to be 

 obviated and altered in the same way, making al- 

 lowance for the fact, that the laws of nature are 

 not always certain. Constitution can likewise be 

 mended by having recourse to that which is good 

 (and none so easily detected as the dog's) ; and 

 colour changed if required. In fact, as Beckford 



