nOVr TO FEED FOX-HOUNDS. 1G5 



undergo quite as much work, but subsist gene- 

 rally on scraps, bones, and ofFal ? and my im- 

 pression is that the difference is to be attributed 

 to their different ways of living. Thin liquid food 

 given to fox -hounds (without meat) has certainly, 

 according to my ideas, the effect of weakening the 

 digestive organs, causing also an unnatural action 

 of the kidneys, of which every huntsman Avith 

 common observation must be aware. Oatmeal 

 porridge is, we are quite free to admit, one of the 

 very best substitutes for animal food, which strikes 

 one at once as being exemplified in the poAverful 

 frames of the Scotch and Irish labourers, who sub- 

 sist almost entirely upon it ; but the human species 

 are not naturally or necessarily carnivorous, and it 

 is well known that the East Indians of a certain 

 caste never eat flesh of any kind. The inhabitants 

 of hot climates also consume very little animal 

 food, living chiefly on meal, fruits, and vegetables ; 

 whilst those in colder regions — as the North Ame- 

 rican Indians and Laplanders — live almost en- 

 tirely on flesh. It is very clear, therefore, that 

 the climate under which human beings are located 

 is a great regulator of their diet, and we all ex- 

 perience this effect by change of seasons in this 

 country. The smoking sirloin of beef which ex- 

 cites our appetite at Christmas would be turned 



