dy
is extremely strong and heavy in proportion to the height of the dog,
and this weight must facilitate the turning of the wheel.

[Illustration: THE FOXHOUND.]

THE FOXHOUND.

"Warn'd by the streaming light and merry lark,
Forth rush the jolly clan; with tuneful throats
They carol loud, and in grand chorus joined,
Salute the new-born day.

Then to the copse
Thick with entangled grass, or prickly furze,
With silence lead thy many-coloured hounds
In all their beauty's pride."--SOMERVILLE.

It is impossible to enter upon a description of the foxhound without
considerable diffidence. Whether we consider the enthusiastic
admiration it excites amongst sportsmen, the undeviating perseverance
and high courage of the animal, its perfect symmetry, and the music of
its tongue, which warms the heart and gives life and spirit to man and
horse, it must be difficult to do justice to his merits. I will,
however, endeavour to do my best; and should I fail, it will not be
for want of admiration of the noble animal whose qualifications I am
about to illustrate with characteristic anecdotes.

In giving a description of the various breeds of dogs, every one must
be aware that by crossing and recrossing them many of those we now see
have but little claim to originality. The foxhound, the old Irish
wolf-dog, and the colley or shepherd's dog, may, perhaps, be
considered as possessing the greatest purity of blood. My opinion
respecting the foxhound is partly founded on the following curious
fact:--

In Wilkinson's "Manners and Customs of the Egyptians," there is a
representation of as varmint a pack of foxhounds as modern eye could
wish to see. It is copied from a painting found in the interior of the
tomb of the Pharaoh under whom Joseph served. Every individual hound
is characteristic of the present breed, with all their courage and
animation. Each dog's tail was as an old Irish huntsman, who used to
glory in seeing his hounds carry their sterns after the hardest day,
once said to his master, "not behind them at all, plaize your honour,
but curling out over their shoulders."

If the copy be correct, and there is no reason to doubt it, the dog of
this breed must be considered of a much more ancient date than is
generally supposed. There is every reason to believe that the first
dogs came from Asia. Indeed, history, both sacred and profane,
confirms this. At all eve