734 THE DOG. 



body is dug up, and preserved for the recognition of friends ; 

 and such is the effect of the sudden congelation, that the 

 frozen corpses will often remain for years unaltered. The 

 dogs endowed with these amazing faculties, transmit them 

 to their offspring, so that a breed is formed scarcely requir- 

 ing human instruction to fit the young for their duties. The 

 number kept at the Hospice itself is very small, but the race 

 extends to the neighbouring country, and individuals can be 

 easily obtained. 



The Old British Blood-hound was a powerful dog, memor- 

 able for the cruel uses to which his faculties were applied. 

 He had the form, and the colour of the fur, even to the tan- 

 coloured mark above the eyes, distinctive of the Asiatic Mas- 

 tiff. But he had the ears longer and more pendulous, resem- 

 bling in this respect the older hounds of England, so that 

 we may believe him to have been intermediate in blood be- 

 tween the Mastiff and the Hound. In early times, he seems 

 to have been employed for the rousing of the fiercer game, 

 coming under the class of hounds termed Lyme-hounds. His 

 especial employment afterwards became the following of 

 the track of wounded deer. He was termed Blood-hound, 

 from the erroneous opinion that he followed the wounded 

 prey by the scent of blood. In Scotland he received the 

 name of Sleuth-hound, which, however, was an appellation 

 common to dogs that followed game by the sleuth or track. 

 We are ignorant of the time when he began to be em- 

 ployed in the pursuit of human beings, though it was pro- 

 bably very early, and a relic, perhaps, of the ancient use of 

 the Canes bellicosi. However this be, it is certain that the 

 Blood-hound was for many ages, and especially in the border 

 districts of England and Scotland, extensively used for this 

 cruel purpose. He was made to hunt felons, nay, persons of 

 distinction who might have escaped from the field of battle. 

 His last illustrious victim in the British Islands was the un- 

 fortunate Duke of Monmouth, who was found concealed in a 

 ditch. When put upon the track of his human prey, he fol- 



