44 HUNTING DIRECTORY. 



Speed of the Fox-hound. 



understood Sir Edward Smith Dodsworth, as we rode 

 together towards the town of Pontefract, after a long and 

 distressing run with the Bads worth, in the month of 

 November, 1825, was the extent of his pack. 



As far as relates to speed, the fox-hound may be re- 

 garded as perfect ; but the same remark will not apply to 

 his olfactory organs, or powers of smell : if the perfection 

 of these two quaUties could be united, nothing more could 

 be desired. I am aware that the Talbot, so celebrated 

 for his exquisite sense of smell, was slow in the pursuit ; 

 this observation is equally applicable to the southern 

 hound ; and the question is, whether or not it would be 

 possible to unite the olfactory organs of the southern 

 hound to that speed and dash which renders fox-hunting 

 so superior to every other species of the chase. That 

 such a desirable object is susceptible of accomplishment, 

 little doubt can be entertained ; and indeed, the instance 

 already noticed of Glider and Gaoler, seem to place the 

 matter beyond a doubt. 



Of late years, speed has been the principal object of 

 consideration in the breeding of hounds. In 1824, I 

 happened to visit Knowsley, near Liverpool, the resi- 

 dence of the Earl of Derby, where his lordship's hounds 

 are kept in smnmer. Of course I visited the kennel, 

 when Jonathan, the huntsman, earnestly directed my 

 attention to a bitch, which, he exultingly remarked, coidd 

 " run four miles in less time than a greyhound !" — Lord 

 Derby's hounds exhibit the appearance of fox-hounds, 

 though used for the pursuit of the stag. 



At all events, whenever a sportsman determines upon 

 breeding hounds, the individuals selected for the purpose 



