24 DOMESTICATED DOGS. 
it enables its possessor to maintain a high rate for a longer time 
than a short hock will allow. The leg or part between the hock 
and foot, sometimes called the pastern, should be large in bone and 
sinew, and following the line of the back very slightly out of the 
perpendicular. I need scarcely remark that the hind-quarter is 
the chief propelling power, but it is greatly assisted by the loin 
in the stroke which it gives, the two together being really almost 
equally engaged in the thrust of the body forward, which is the 
essential feature in propulsion. 
The feet are all equally important to propulsion, for if there are 
any of them defective, so as to give pain to their possessors, slight 
though it may be, during the gallop, the muscular powers are not 
duly exerted, even if that pain does not amount to the extent 
necessary to produce actual lameness. Before the time of training 
and actual coursing, the feet seldom are called on sufficiently to 
test their capabilities in this direction, but as soon as work begins 
and is carried to the required extent, the thin sole wears away and 
the dog becomes footsore. Hence the first desideratum is a hard 
horny covering to the pads and stopper, which latter should also 
be strongly connected to the back of the pastern, or it will be torn 
away during the turns, in which it greatly assists by grasping the 
earth. On this point, therefore, there is a full agreement among 
greyhound breeders, but on the exact shape of the foot most 
desirable there is a considerable difference of opinion, The question 
is, whether a cat-like foot with the toes well arched, and a set of 
pads arranged almost in a circle, as in the cat, is to be aimed at, 
or a more oval formation, with the toes less arched, such as exists 
in the hare. Most coursers prefer the former, but a long experi- 
ence leads me to think that they have often carried their desires 
in this direction too far, and that a foot supported almost entirely 
on the toes will break down sooner than one in which the central 
pad takes its due share of weight. Anything, however, is better 
than a flat, widely sprawling foot, such as generally is met with in 
puppies reared without a proper amount of liberty and its accom- 
panying exercise. 
The tad in @ well-bred greyhound is even more thin, taper, and 
bony than that of the rat, to which it is compared in the old 
rhyme. It should be large at the root, then suddenly tapering for 
