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CHAPTER XXXVIII. 



THE HARRIER. 



THERE can be very little doubt that the modern Harrier owes his origin to the same 

 sources which produced the Foxhound ; and the points of difference in the structural 

 developments of the two breeds are so very slight that the standard which applies to 

 Foxhounds consequently will be equally useful when Harriers have to be judged. The 

 size is the chief material difference between the two breeds, and the pace which they can 

 travel of course is not the same, as the animals hunted differ from each other in so many 

 respects. 



That hare-hunting is an ancient pursuit is amply proved from the number of early 

 writers who have borne testimony to the fact ; and amongst those who have given us 

 descriptions of the art, the name of Xcnophon is eminently conspicuous. As more than 

 one of the writers who have drawn largely upon his work for early information have observed, 

 the knowledge Xenophon possessed of the habits of the hare was certainly considerable, and 

 accurate to an almost unparalleled extent. We therefore propose in the first instance quoting 

 some extracts from his writings, a full translation of which appear in William Blane's 

 " Cynegetica," which was published in London so far back as 1788. In the form in which we 

 reproduce them, Xenophon's remarks will be made to appear in a series of continuous para- 

 graphs. This is simply for convenience sake, and it must not be supposed that his entire 

 work is given, for condensation has had to be largely resorted to in order to confine his ideas 

 within a reasonable limit. Xenophon remarks that 



"The trail of a hare is long during the winter, on account of the length of the nights, 

 and in the summer short, for the contrary reason. In the winter there is no scent early in 

 the morning, when there is either a hoar frost or ice ; for the hoar frost, by its proper force 

 collecting the warm particles, contains them in itself, and the ice condenses them. When this 

 happens, the dogs with delicate noses " (literally, " the dogs whose noses are tender ") " cannot 

 touch before the sun dispels them. Then the dogs can smell, and the trail yields a scent as it 

 evaporates. 



" The scent of a hare going to her form lasts longer than that of her course when 

 pursued. When she goes to her form she goes slowly, often stopping; but her course when 

 pursued is performed running : therefore the ground is saturated with one, and not filled with 

 the other. The scent is always stronger in woody places than in open ones, for there, some- 

 times running and sometimes sitting, she is touched by many things. The trail of the hare 

 is the path she takes going to her seat" (or "form"), "which in cold weather will generally 

 be in sheltered places, and, in hot, in shady places. When she sits, the lower parts of her 

 joints are covered by her belly; her forelegs are most commonly close together and extended, 

 resting her chin on the extremity of her feet ; her ears are extended over her shoulders, and 

 her hair is well adapted for a covering, being thick and soft. When she wakes she winks 

 her eyelids, but when she sleeps she keeps them continuously open without motion, having 



