ACTION. 31 



and the arched loin, coupled with the Bedlamite ' quarter, is 

 much sought after. With regard to the chest there are two things 

 to be considered, namely, capacity for the lodgment of the lungs 

 and heart, and the attainment of that form most conducive to 

 speed and working. It must not be too deep, or the animal is 

 constantly striking it against obstacles ; it must not be too wide, 

 or the shoulders are unable to play smoothly upon it, as they 

 must do in the action of this quarter ; but it must be of sufficient 

 capacity to lodge the heart and lungs. A just relation between 

 these three counterbalancing essentials is therefore the best form, 

 neither too small for good wind, nor too wide for speed, nor too 

 deep to keep free from the irregularities of the ground, but that 

 happy medium which we see in our best specimens, and which the 

 portraits of most of our best dogs will exhibit to the eye of the 

 courser. 



But it is very remarkable that, in spite of all the talent and 

 powers of observation which have been brought to bear upon 

 the greyhound, and in spite of the various shapes which have 

 been described so often and so well, no one has ever succeeded 

 in prognosticating from the form of the individual the peculiar 

 character of the gallop which that animal may inherit. It is true 

 that we may easily guess, when we know the sire and dam, that 

 the descendant will very probably gallop in the same style as they 

 did before him; but without such information, and merely by 

 looking at the form alone, no one, I believe, could often succeed 

 in making a successful guess- as to the action of a particular grey- 

 hound something more, then, is requisite than mere shape, and 



