THE FOXHOUND. 129 



sufficient to give in the dog hound a girth in front of the ears of fully 16in. The 

 nose should be long (4|in.) and wide with open nostrils. Ears set on low and lying 

 close to the cheek. 



2. The neck (value 5) must be long and clean, without the slightest throatiness. 

 It should taper nicely from the shoulders to the head, and the upper outline should 

 be slightly convex. 



3. The shoulders (value 10) should be long and well clothed with muscle 

 without being heavy, especially at the points. They must be well sloped, and the 

 true arm between the front and the elbow must be long and muscular, but free from 

 fat or lumber. 



4. Chest and back ribs (value 10). The chest should girth over 30in. in a 

 24in. hound, and the back ribs must be very deep. 



5. The back and loin (value 10) must both be very muscular, running into 

 each other without any contraction or " nipping " between them. The couples 

 must be wide even to raggedness, and there should be the very slightest arch 

 in the loin, so as to be scarcely perceptible. 



6. The hind quarters (value 10) or propellers are required to be very strong, 

 and as endurance is of even more consequence than speed, straight stifles are 

 preferred to those much bent, as in the greyhound. 



7. Elbows (value 5) set quite straight, and neither turned in nor out, are a 

 sine qua non. They must be well let down by means of the long true arm above 

 mentioned. 



8. Legs and feet (value 20). Every master of foxhounds insists on legs as 

 straight as a post, and as strong ; size of bone at the ankle being specially 

 regarded as all important. The desire for straightness is, I think, carried to 

 excess, as the very straight leg soon knuckles over, and this defect may almost 

 always be seen more or less in old stallion hounds. The bone cannot, in my 

 opinion, be too large, but I prefer a slight angle at the knee to a perfectly 

 straight line. With the exception, however, of Mr. Anstruther Thompson I never 

 yet met with a master of foxhounds who would hear of such an heretical opinion 

 without scorn. The feet in all cases should be round and cat like, with well 

 developed knuckles, and strong horn, which last is of the utmost importance. 



9. The colour and coat (value 5) are not regarded as very important, so 

 long as the former is a " hound colour," and the latter is short, dense, hard, 

 and glossy. Hound colours are black tan and white black and white, and the 

 various " pies " compounded of white and the colour of the hare and badger, or 

 yellow, or tan. In some old strains the blue mottle of the southern hound is 

 still preserved, but it is generally voted " slow." 



10. The stern (value 5) is gently arched, carried gaily over the back, and 

 slightly fringed with hair below. The end should taper to a point. 



11. The symmetry (value 5) of the foxhound is considerable, and what is called 

 " quality " is highly regarded by all good judges. 



Lord Poltimore's Lexicon, and the North Warwickshire Rosy may still serve 

 to illustrate the foxhound as well as any modern specimen. 



8 



