96 DISEASES OF THE GREYHOUND. 



powers. This plan may be compared to the old fable of killing 

 the goose who laid golden eggs in order to get at her interior ; for 

 though the stimulus succeeds for a short time, yet in the long run 

 the dog is rendered incapable of doing his duty long before he 

 otherwise would, and this injurious effect comes on, even if he 

 remains tolerably healthy, and of course if diseased he is hors de 

 combat at once, making the proceeding still more unprofitable to 

 the owner. All that these gentlemen seem to think necessary is 

 the restoration of the powers of the system after each act to the 

 state which shall enable the dog to repeat the performance for the 

 next comer, who may make her appearance at any short notice ; 

 but they do not consider that the quality of the stock is im- 

 poverished, nor that the health of their own property also suffers. 

 It is from this cause that few public favourites as stallions 

 continue healthy themselves, or get healthy stock for many years 

 together. They are taken from a state of active exercise to 

 comparative idleness, and to much stronger and more stimulating 

 food than they have been accustomed to ; and from this cause 

 diseased liver or kidneys, or both, is sure to arise, and, as a 

 consequence, the disease in question. Let me, therefore, implore 

 all stallion-owners, as they value their own property (to say 

 nothing of the interests of those who send their bitches to them), 

 to avoid every kind of stimulus, and to give only such an amount 

 of good flesh and meal (and for them barley meal is the best) as 

 shall keep them in good condition. Let them also allow them a,n 

 hour or two's exercise daily, and they will find them healthy and 

 strong for a dozen years, so that they will in the end be gainers 



