THE BLOODHOUND. 



139 



fco twenty-four inches ; his fur short, ears long and drooping, and tail tolerably straight. He exhibits 

 great variation as to hue; and an authority, cited by Youatt, " gives a curious account of the prejudices 

 of sportsmen on the subject of colour. The white Dogs were curious hunters, and had a capital scent j 

 the black, with some white spots, were obedient, good hunters, and with good constitutions ; the grey- 

 coloured had no very acute scent, but were obstinate and indefatigable in their quest ; the yellow Dogs 

 were impatient and obstinate, and taught with difficulty." 



The statement about the particularly good scent of the white Hounds is very curious, for it is 

 generally found that animals of light colour are inferior in sensory endowments to darker ones, 

 owing to the absence of a peculiar black pigment from the delicate membranes to which the nerves of 

 special sense are distributed. 



The pace of the Foxhound is very rapid. One was known to run a course of four miles one f urlon 

 and one hundred and thirty-two yards in a trifle over eight minutes ! Of the correctness of their 

 scent, no one who has seen the Hounds put off and watched the unerring way they pursue the Fox 

 can have any doubt. 



THE STAGHOUND. 



This is the largest of modern English Hounds, and the one which most nearly approaches in 

 character the old " Hound " which fell into disuse on account of its slowness, but which we often find 

 mentioned in olden writers. Shakspere, for instance, writes of this old English or Southern Hound in 

 "Midsummer Night's Dream": 



Hip. I was with Hercules and Cadmus once, 



When in a wood of Crete they bay'd the bear 



With hounds of Sparta : never did I hear 



Such gallant chiding ; for, besides the groves, 



Tbe skies, the fountains, every region near 



Seem'd all one mutual cry : I never heard 



So musical a discord, such sweet thunder. 



The. My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind, 



So flew'd, so sanded ; and their heads are hung 



With ears that sweep away the morning dew ; 



Crook-knee'd and dew-lapp'd, like Thessalian bulls ; 

 . Slow in pursuit, but match' d in mouth like bells, 



Each under each. A cry more tuneable 



Was never holla'd to, nor cheer'd with horn, 



In Crete, in Sparta, nor in Thessaly : 



Judge when you hear. 



Of the powers of scent possessed by the Staghound, the following is a notable example : 

 " Lord Oxford reduced four Stags to so perfect a degree of submission, that, in his short excur- 

 sions, he used to drive them in a phaeton made for the purpose. He was one day exercising his 

 singular and beautiful steeds in the neighbourhood of Newmarket, when their ears were saluted with 

 the unwelcome cry of a pack of Hounds, which, crossing the road in their rear, had caught the scent, 

 and leaving their original object of pursuit, were now in rapid chase of the frightened Stags. In vain 

 his grooms exerted themselves to the utmost ; the terrified animals bounded away with the swiftness 

 of lightning, and entered Newmarket at full speed. They made immediately for the Ram Inn, to 

 which his lordship was in the habit of driving, and, having fortunately entered the yard without 

 any accident, the stable-keepers huddled his lordship, the phaeton, and the Deer, into a large barn, just 

 in time to save them from the Hounds, who came into the yard in full cry a few seconds afterwards." 



THE BLOODHOUND. 



This Dog resembles pretty closely the Deerhound, or old English Hound, but is considerably 

 larger, with longer ears of a soft and delicate texture, and deeper " flews," or down-hanging upper lips. 

 (See figure on p. 137.) The colour is brown, verging to reddish along the back, and to light fawn- 

 colour below. The eyes should be surrounded with a distinct red ring, due to the exposure of the 

 delicate membrane lining the eyelids. To judge from the animal's countenance, no one would imagine 

 the horrid purpose for which it was originally bred, for few Dogs have a milder, more benevolent, or 

 more intelligent visage. 



