The Sportsman | Page 7

through lapse of time the twofold characteristics of their progenitors have become blent." See Timoth. Gaz. ap. Schneid. ad loc. for an ancient superstition as to breeds.
Both species present a large proportion of defective animals[4] which fall short of the type, as being under-sized, or crook-nosed,[5] or gray-eyed,[6] or near-sighted, or ungainly, or stiff-jointed, or deficient in strength, thin-haired, lanky, disproportioned, devoid of pluck or of nose, or unsound of foot. To particularise: an under-sized dog will, ten to one, break off from the chase[7] faint and flagging in the performance of his duty owing to mere diminutiveness. An aquiline nose means no mouth, and consequently an inability to hold the hare fast.[8] A blinking bluish eye implies defect of vision;[9] just as want of shape means ugliness.[10] The stiff-limbed dog will come home limping from the hunting-field;[11] just as want of strength and thinness of coat go hand in hand with incapacity for toil.[12] The lanky-legged, unsymmetrical dog, with his shambling gait and ill- compacted frame, ranges heavily; while the spiritless animal will leave his work to skulk off out of the sun into shade and lie down. Want of nose means scenting the hare with difficulty, or only once in a way; and however courageous he may be, a hound with unsound feet cannot stand the work, but through foot-soreness will eventually give in.[13]
[4] Or, "defective specimens (that is to say, the majority) are to be noted, as follows."
[5] {grupai}.
[6] {kharopoi}. Al. Arrian, iv. 4, 5.
[7] Or, "will probably retire from the chase and throw up the business through mere diminutiveness."
[8] Or, "a hook-nosed (? pig-jawed, see Stonehenge, "The Dog," p. 19, 4th ed.) dog has a bad mouth and cannot hold."
[9] Or, "a short-sighted, wall-eyed dog has defective vision."
[10] Or, "they are weedy, ugly brutes as a rule."
[11] Or, "stiffness of limbs means he will come off." Cf. "Mem." III. xiii. 6.
[12] Lit. "a weak, thinly-haired animal is incapable of severe toil."
[13] Or, "Nor will courage compensate for unsound feet. The toil and moil will be too great to endure, and owing to the pains in his feet he will in the end give in."
Similarly many different modes of hunting a line of scent are to be seen in the same species of hound.[14] One dog as soon as he has found the trail will go along without sign or symptom to show that he is on the scent; another will vibrate his ears only and keep his tail[15] perfectly still; while a third has just the opposite propensity: he will keep his ears still and wag with the tip of his tail. Others draw their ears together, and assuming a solemn air,[16] drop their tails, tuck them between their legs, and scour along the line. Many do nothing of the sort.[17] They tear madly about, babbling round the line when they light upon it, and senselessly trampling out the scent. Others again will make wide circuits and excursions; either forecasting the line,[18] they overshoot it and leave the hare itself behind, or every time they run against the line they fall to conjecture, and when they catch sight of the quarry are all in a tremor,[19] and will not advance a step till they see the creature begin to stir.
[14] Or, "Also the same dogs will exhibit many styles of coursing: one set as soon as they have got the trail pursue it without a sign, so there is no means of finding out that the animal is on the track."
[15] "Stern."
[16] Or "with their noses solemnly fixed on the ground and sterns lowered."
[17] Or, "have quite a different action"; "exhibit quite another manner."
[18] i.e. "they cast forwards to make short cuts," of skirters too lazy to run the line honestly.
[19] Reading {tremousi}, "fall a-trembling"; al. {atremousi}, stand stock-still"; i.e. are "dwellers."
A particular sort may be described as hounds which, when hunting or pursuing, run forward with a frequent eye to the discoveries of the rest of the pack, because they have no confidence in themselves. Another sort is over-confident--not letting the cleverer members of the pack go on ahead, but keeping them back with nonsensical clamour. Others will wilfully hug every false scent,[20] and with a tremendous display of eagerness, whatever they chance upon, will take the lead, conscious all the while they are playing false;[21] whilst another sort again will behave in a precisely similar style out of sheer ignorance.[22] It is a poor sort of hound which will not leave a stale line[23] for want of recognising the true trail. So, too, a hound that cannot distinguish the trail leading to a hare's form, and scampers over that of a running hare, hot haste, is no thoroughbred.[24]
[20] Al. "seem to take pleasure in fondling every lie."
[21] Or, "fully aware themselves that the whole