324 TRAINING. 



her. Generally, however, bitches when ' put by,' even if they do 

 not at once become flabby and fat, will yet waste away in 

 training, and will not stand nearly the same amount of work as at 

 other times. There is a condition of the whole system in which 

 every function is rendered subservient to the formation and 

 nourishment of the young, even when impregnation has been pre- 

 sented. Animals when with young, become still more fat than when 

 prevented from becoming so, and they also preserve their health 

 to a much greater degree; for this reason the farmer puts his 

 feeding cows to the bull, although he intends to kill them in the 

 course of two or three months. At first, it would occur to every- 

 one that the necessity for nourishing the embryo calf must 

 take something away from the fat of the mother, but, on the 

 contrary, it is found that up to a certain period the cow increases 

 in weight more rapidly than she would do if not ' in calf.' On 

 this principle many coursers, rather than ( put by ' a bitch, and 

 with the view of being enabled to run her for the next fortnight 

 or three weeks, or soon after whelping, allow her access to a dog, 

 and in the latter case destroy the whelps. It is still a doubtful 

 point which is the better plan, and numberless cases of success 

 and failure following each might be adduced. ( Riot ' never ran 

 better than when she won the Altcar Cup, in October 1857, 

 after producing her first litter in the previous spring ; and in March 

 1858, after rearing her second litter in January, she won two 

 stakes at Tredegar Park, and divided the Caledonian Cup 

 (32 dogs) with that excellent bitch ( Baffle,' after an undecided 

 course. 'Tollwife,' improved in her running after her 



