Hounds at Work 



the heart of the hound-lover. To see this 

 bitch cast if she got oflF the line was a treat. 

 After the hounds that hunt by scent we 

 come to the greyhound, which, as every- 

 body knows, hunts by sight. Coursing has 

 ever been a popular sport in this country, 

 from the time of the Anglo-Saxons onwards. 

 A glance at old prints of greyhounds 

 suggests that few breeds have changed less 

 in formation than this. Originally, no doubt, 

 he was much coarser in build, and we have 

 good reason for believing that he had deterio- 

 rated in courage towards the end of the 

 eighteenth century, as the Earl of Orford 

 of his day resorted to a bulldog cross to 

 infuse a desirable quality that he considered 

 lacking. To some this may have seemed a 

 rash adventure, having in mind the funda- 

 mental differences in the construction of the 

 two dogs, but any one who has had experience 

 in such hybridisation will not be surprised 

 to learn that the sixth or seventh genera- 

 tion showed no traces of the alien blood. I 



63 



