158 Cross Country with Horse and Hound 



can be compared with that of a hound. The foxhound is 

 the only animal of which it cannot be said 



One genius will but one body fit ; 

 So wide is art, so narrow human wit. 



In cattle and horses, as in all other domestic animals, one 

 quality beyond symmetry and beauty is about all one breed 

 can be asked to develope. Occasionally a zealous breeder 

 will set up a claim that his breed of cattle is superior in 

 two points of excellence, as, for instance, in both butter and 

 milk, or in both beef qualities and in milk. Such animals, 

 however, cannot compete with either the trained dairy or 

 the trained beef breeds. Some breeder of sheep may set 

 up a claim that his particular breed of sheep is superior for 

 both wool and mutton. Such sheep, however, are in the 

 one case always beaten at a sheep-shearing contest, and in 

 the other, again, in competition with a mutton breed. 



To say of a horse that he is good for speed and draft 

 means that he excels at neither. 



One breed of dogs may be noted for its beauty, another 

 for its symmetry, another for its grace or uniformity in 

 colour and markings. The English foxhound is the 

 equal, if not the superior, of any family, however distin- 

 guished in any one particular. As to endurance and muscu- 

 lar development, nothing approaches him. The Duke 

 of Rutland's champion stud-hound Belvoir Dexter mea- 

 sures eight and a quarter inches around the forearm, and 

 is muscled throughout in proportion. In general hunting 

 ability a foxhound possesses the fling and drive of a pointer 

 and the speed of a race-horse. He has the keenest of 

 noses and the most musical of tongues. Indeed, there is 



