34 THE DESCRIPTIVE ANATOMY OF THE DOG. 



the hind-legs and stifles under the body, or from both. Very 

 often the dog seems to dwell in a position in which the fore-legs 

 are raised, without the shoulders being at all moved, and the hind- 

 legs are extended backwards to the utmost. This is wholly 

 useless, though sometimes tolerably good speed is attained, 

 but there is never good working power, and the dog is con- 

 tinually falling if sufficiently fast. Many examples of this defect 

 might be adduced, but it could serve no purpose but to annoy the 

 owners of the animals mentioned. 



4thly. There is the heavy, dull, inanimate style, which may be 

 inherent in either of the above, and which depends upon defective 

 nervous organization ; it is fatal to the individual possessing it, 

 and ought to ensure his speedy departure from the kennel and the 

 coursing field, by means of the cord or poison. In the puppy 

 this is very difficult to detect as a permanent fault, since many 

 first-rate dogs have retained this sluggishness to the end of their 

 puppyhood ; but the defects mentioned in the third division, when 

 seen at the age of nine or ten months, are seldom wholly re- 

 covered from. There is no comparison in the value of two grey- 

 hounds, one possessing either of the two first styles, and the other 

 either of the last; for whilst the two first are good in their 

 different varieties, the two last can neither enable a dog to go 

 fast, nor run stout, nor work, and he is only fit to look at when at 

 rest. In this position he is often a perfect picture, and many is 

 the purchaser, who has bought a dog at a sale from the beauty of 

 his form, who has been disappointed by seeing him go as I have 

 attempted to describe when let loose in the field. These various 



