1 66 COURSING 



unduly developed, is prone to induce cunning and trickery. 

 We have already traversed the opinions of the old writers who 

 held as an axiom that 'the greater the fool the better the 

 greyhound,' for we do not believe that crass stupidity is cal- 

 culated to fit the individual, human or animal, for any work, 

 that he may be set to do ; and many a noted greyhound has 

 been well developed in the intellectual faculties without ever 

 having run otherwise than bravely and honestly. 



Doubtless the enclosed meetings are responsible for the 

 increase of this roguish propensity in far greater degree than 

 the development of the intellect ; though in such cases a clever 

 dog is far more likely to fall a victim to undesirable habits 

 than if his efforts had been confined to the open country. A 

 dog of average intelligence, running time after time at the same 

 enclosure, cannot fail to notice the run of the hares ; and his 

 deductions, though they may lead to his picking up puss 

 before the escape is reached, will probably have lost him the 

 verdict and possibly cost him a fatal knock on the head ; 

 whereas this identical greyhound, if relegated to the open, 

 would have sufficient intelligence to see that his old style of 

 running did not lead to like results, and in the interests of his 

 teeth he would find that honesty was the best policy. 



Still, although we agree as to the evil induced by a too 

 free patronage of the enclosures, we cannot subscribe to the 

 dictum that the alleged deterioration affects either the average 

 or the aggregate, and we feel convinced that, though there may 

 be more rogues than in bygone eras, there are undoubtedly more 

 good greyhounds and fewer bad ones running than ever there 

 were ; and we join those who attribute the improvement to 

 the care, trouble, and expense that are nowadays bestowed in 

 breeding, training, and running greyhounds capable of holding 

 their own in the important stakes of the year. The fact of 

 the matter is that in olden times the few good dogs stood out 

 as Gullivers in Lilliput ; but now, unless a dog is quite phe- 

 nomenal—a Fullerton, in fact — his merits are applauded when 

 he wins ; then he is forgotten until the occasion of his next 



