240 THE BOOK OF THE Doc. 



ear, the rat tail, and the skin almost without hair, together with that innate courage which the 

 high-bred Greyhound should possess, retaining which instinctively, he would rather die than 

 relinquish the chase. 



" One defect this cross is admitted to have which the poacher would rather know to be a 

 truth than the fair sportsman would come willingly forward to demonstrate. To the former 

 it is a fact pretty well known that no dog has the sense of smelling in a more exquisite 

 degree than the Bulldog ; and, as they run mute, they, under certain crosses, best answer the 

 midnight purposes of the poacher in driving hares to the wire or net. Greyhounds bred from 

 this cross have therefore some tendency to run by the nose, which, if not immediately checked 

 by the master, they will continue for miles, and become very destructive to the game in the 

 neighbourhood where they are kept, if not under confinement or restraint." 



The best of Lord Orford's strain were purchased by Col. Thornton on the death of their 

 breeder, and thus found their way from Norfolk to Yorkshire. Here they did not seem to be able 

 to sustain the reputation they had gained in their own country, for except upon " the low, 

 flat countries below the wolds " their success was inferior to the expectations formed concerning 

 them. However, we are told that " it was unanimously agreed by all the sportsmen present, that 

 they ran with a great deal of energetic exertion, and always at the hare ; that though beaten 

 they did not go in, or exhibit any symptoms of lurching or waiting to kill." These qualifica- 

 tions pluck and endurance were no doubt the result of the Bull cross alluded to above, 

 which Lord Orford had introduced into his strain some generations before. With reference to 

 the compliment paid above to the Bulldog's sense of smell, we confess ourselves to be at 

 variance with the writer, for, though the last to deny the Bulldog the possession of any scent 

 at all, or to class him with many less intelligent breeds of dog, we do not, after considerable 

 experience of the variety, consider his powers of scent are by any means of the highest order. 

 The chief objections that we personally should expect to find in the Bulldog cross are, first, 

 a deficiency of speed in the animals for several generations ; and, secondly, the existence of 

 Bull blood even in this diluted form would, we imagine, be very likely to make the puppies 

 both hot-tempered and headstrong, which are most naturally undesirable characteristics in a 

 Greyhound. Our own personal experience of the Bulldog cross is very limited, for it is 

 confined to that of a gentleman interested in coursing, who, about the beginning of 1877, 

 availed himself of the services of our Bull-terriers, Tarquin and Sallust, for some of his 

 Greyhound bitches. He has not, unfortunately, granted us permission to divulge his name, 

 as he desires the experiment to remain a secret until the progeny appears in public, if any 

 ever do appear. He writes us, however, that so far he is " more than satisfied with the 

 result," and that he considers the acquisition of what he terms " a new heart " will materially 

 benefit his strain in days to come. The whelps we saw were only the result of first crosses, 

 and for the most part resembled the Greyhound far more than the Bull-terrier side of their 

 family, though a peculiarity in one of them a daughter of Sallust, who himself was perfectly 

 level-mouthed was that she was undershot to an extent which we have rarely seen equalled 

 in any class of dog. 



Though the work of a modern Greyhound is not of so arduous a description as that of its 

 ancestors, its staying powers are often sorely tried. Two essential qualifications are therefore 

 necessary in a good Greyhound we allude to stoutness and speed. Even if a dog be much faster 

 than his antagonist, he will probably be beaten in his course if he lacks courage and stamina ; 

 and it is far better, therefore, to trust the stout than the speedy dog, though it is highly 



