FOXHOUNDS AND STAGHOUnDS 19 



hincl the elbows to at least thirty inches, sometimes thirty- 

 one inches ; shoulders long, sloping, and powerful ; elbows 

 perfectly straight and well let down. Fore legs must be 

 as straight as possible, without any tendency backwards ; 

 bone of leg as large as possible, and the muscle of the fore- 

 arm as well as the tendons of the pasterns and toes pro- 

 portionately strong. If the foot is not perfectly straight 

 it must turn out; round and cat-like in shape, sole hard 

 and thick ; hind quarters strong, wide, and deep ; pastern 

 bone strong and large ; hocks strong and straight ; the 

 stern carried gaily upwards, slightly rough beneath its 

 lower edge, but not feathered ; point straight ; coat dense, 

 smooth, and glossy; colour black, white, and tan, black 

 and white, or pied with hare, badger, red, tan, or yellow. 

 Height from twenty-two to twenty-five inches.' 



Their ears should not be cropped before fourteen weeks 

 old. The two edges should be held close together, and 

 the thin part cut off very neatly and quickly with a very 

 sharp pair of scissors. Apply friar's balsam to the wounds, 

 and afterwards vaseline till quite healed. The dew claws 

 should be cut off with a sharp pair of scissors when the 

 pups are just over a week old, and vaseline applied twice 

 or thrice a day, but the mother's constantly licking them 

 soon cures them. 



There is a story of a hound who saved sixty lambs in 

 one of those disastrous lambing seasons in Scotland when 

 the country is blockaded with snow, and when careful 

 shepherds are much exposed while feeding weak ewes and 

 picking up deserted lambs, which they carry to their 

 masters' or own homes, where they are nursed as carefully 

 as children. The hound noticed what was going forward, 

 and though fourteen months had elapsed since she had 

 pups, strange to say, she saved more than sixty little 

 lambs that might otherwise have perished. Night and 

 day she was seen lying on sheepskins before the kitchen 

 fire with half a dozen lambs around her, devoting the most 

 assiduous attention to them, picking out the weakest for 

 the greatest care. 



c 2 



