CHAPTER VIII 



Rules to be observed in the Breeding of Fox-hounds. — Whimsical 

 Sites for Kennels. — Months in which Whelps should have their 

 Birthdays. — Dressing Hounds. — Value of Vegetable Diet. — Some 

 Observations on the Science of Breeding. 



A FEW words may be necessary on the treatment of brood 

 bitches and their whelps. It must be obvious to every 

 man acquainted with animal economy generally that 

 healthy progeny cannot be expected from unhealthy 

 parents, and unless the juices and fluids of the mother 

 are in a healthy state before parturition the whelps will 

 suffer accordingly ; and from this first cause of vitiated 

 milk arises many of the diseases with which young 

 animals, particularly puppies, are afflicted. 



Quo semel est imbuta recens servabit odorem 

 Testa diu. 



New stomachs, as well as new casks, are particularly 

 susceptible of lacteal acidities, or impurities, which 

 engender worms, rickets, and other maladies ; and it 

 may be laid down as a general rule that air and exercise 

 are essentials indispensable to all animals in a state of 

 gestation, from whom healthy and vigorous offspring is 

 expected. From the want of these during the month 

 of April, one season, when absent from home, I lost five 

 magnificent brood bitches with their first fitters, being 

 kept confined in the yard appropriated to them, instead 

 of being allowed to roam at large as soon as they became 

 heavy, which was my general practice. 



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