98 ON PHYSICING HOUNDS IN GENERAL. 



men have their favourite receipts for physic ; but 

 although there may be various M^ays of producing the 

 effect required, still the principle upon which each 

 plan is founded must stand the same in all cases. 

 Large bodies of animals which are kept together, such 

 as sheep, horses, cattle, hounds, and even human beings, 

 from living on exactly the same food, breathing air of 

 the same temperature, and pursuing the same habits, 

 become by degrees very similar in their constitutions ; 

 this is evident by diseases, which are not contagious, 

 breaking out in schools, workhouses, and other places, 

 where a large body of human beings are in the habit 

 of living together. We may also see the same thing 

 amongst cattle, and in studs of horses, where an 

 epizootic frequently shows itself, without the possi- 

 bility of its having spread by contagion. Hounds 

 which have been kept together for months, and even 

 years, eating the same food, and following in every 

 way the same line of existence, become so much alike 

 in their natures and constitutions, that medicine, 

 during a general and periodical physicing, will have, 

 excepting in a very few instances, exactly the same 

 effect upon each individual ; it may vary in the de- 

 gree, but the nature of the effect will be the same, or 

 nearly the same, in all. For this reason, the system 

 of physicing in the trough is always pursued by 

 good judges. Some persons may exclaim, the greedy 

 feeders will get a stronger dose than the rest, but that 

 is the very reason why the system is recommended ; the 

 hard feeders are always the foulest in their constitu- 

 tions, and therefore require the most. Nothing is 

 easier than to regulate that part of the business ; and 



