198 PUBLIC COURSING. 



purpose as well as her more valued sister, although the latter may 

 be of more imposing appearance, and have a long list of 

 victories to boast of. The reasons for this I have endeavoured to 

 make clear, and I have also attempted to prove the truth of my 

 assertion, by adducing a list of examples in illustration of it. 

 That familiar aphorism of the breeder, 'like begets like,' is true 

 enough in the main, but is not to be interpreted too strictly. It 

 should be rendered thus, every animal has a tendency to repro- 

 duce the likeness of itself, or of its family, and if the individual 

 in question is an exception to the general form of the family, then 

 the produce will be more likely to follow the rule than the 

 exception. Bearing in mind, then, this amended aphorism, 

 which I believe to be the true interpretation, let the breeder only 

 decide on the best blood from which to make his selection, and 

 then let him without fear obtain such a draft as I have described, 

 which he can do at a much less cost than if purchasing a success- 

 ful favourite. 



It will be said by the young courser, that I have given 

 directions for selecting the brood bitch in every particular but the 

 one most essential, namely, her 'breed ' or ( pedigree,' and this is 

 quite true, though I have indicated one strain which experience 

 has shown is good in all countries, viz. the stock of 'King Cob,' 

 and especially as handed down to us through 'Bedlamite' or 

 'David.' Other sires have occasionally bred greyhounds which 

 have carried off good prizes both in the south and north; but 

 taking public running as our only sure guide, these two sires have 

 been the most successful of late years in all countries, and I should 



