62 DOMESTICATED DOGS. 
able to rear above one or two out of each litter, the remainder 
either dying in the nest or being lost afterwards from fits or dis- 
temper. Mr. J. Grimwood, of Stanton House, near Swindon, has 
a very beautiful little pack of somewhat larger size, averaging 
nearly 12 inches, and usually hunting hare; while Sir Thomas D. 
Lloyd, of Bromroyd, Carmarthenshire, breeds to a still higher 
standard. For many years Lord Caledon was famous for his 
beagles, with which he hunted hare in Tyrone, and they were said 
to be of the purest old blood; but never having seen them, I 
cannot speak from my own knowledge of their merits. Mr. 
Everett, of Abingdon, has been the most successful on the show 
bench, and has attained a high reputation in the field, his little 
hounds being able to account for sometimes a brace of hares in the 
day, after showing a good run with each. Some twenty years ago 
Mr.. Honeywood hunted over the Essex marshes on foot with 
pocket-beagles very little above Mr. Crane’s standard, but they 
were often unable to get up the banks of the drains when the water 
was low, and frequently required assistance to save them from 
drowning. The nose of the beagle when thus bred down to a very 
low standard is apt to be lost, and, according to my experience, 
no pack should, on this account, be less than 11 inches in height, 
and for sport I should prefer even 12 inches. Foot-beagles, 
generally hunting “drag,” sometimes hare, were kept by subscrip- 
tion throughout the country in almost every populous parish, for 
the purpose of giving exercise to the rising generation, but since 
the coming in with a rush of lawn-tennis they have gone out of 
fashion for this purpose, and very few packs are now kept, except 
by those who love the chase pure and simple, irrespective of the 
exercise it gives. Like the harrier, the numerical value of the 
beagle’s points is identical with that of the foxhound, but I shall 
repeat the scale for the sake of reference :— 
VALUE VALUE 
Head, . ; : : . 15 Elbows, . ; ; : oS 
Neck, . , > 5 Legs and feet, . : . 20 
Shoulders, j : . 10 Colour and coat, . 5) 
Chest and back ribs, ‘ . Io Stern, . - 2, 5 
Loin, . ‘ . 10 Symmetry, . : vay 
Hind- quarters, = oR ae Ke) —— 
Total, 4 . Ico 
