224 THE SHOOTER'S GUIDE. 



ensue on the piece becoming cold, not only in the 

 pan, but also the inside of the barrel. Now, suppo- 

 sing that a bird is winged* the shooter should, not- 

 withstanding, invariably load before he attempts to se- 

 cure it, as well to prevent the moisture above men- 

 tioned, as to hinder your dog from imbibing bad 

 habits; for if you suffer him to run after a winged 

 bird immediately on firing, he will be very apt to 

 break away on the shot, which is one of the worst of 

 practices. Therefore, as soon as the sportsman has 

 fired, let him prime, and while he is preparing the 

 charge of powder (supposing it to be a single-barrel) 

 he should place the palm of his hand on the muzzle 

 of the piece, as by this means he will completely ex- 

 tinguish any particle of fuze, which might possibly 

 have been left in the barrel, and thus prevent any ac- 

 cident on pouring the powder into the barrel : the 

 priming and the hand on the muzzle prevent air get- 

 ting to the latent spark, and it becomes instantly ex- 

 tinct. The time which it takes to prepare the charge 

 of powder with a spring-top flask must be allowed to 

 be very short, yet it will be sufficient to effect this 

 necessary purpose. I must honestly confess, that I 

 am no advocate for placing the hand on the muzzle 

 of a double-barrel, as in thus preventing one danger 

 you are perhaps risking a greater. However, there 

 will be no occasion for placing the hand on the 

 muzzle, if proper wadding, and Harvey's best powder, 



* Sporting term for a broken wing. 



