Chapter XXIV: Part 24

When your hounds are divided into many parts, you had better go off with the first fox that breaks. The ground will soon get tainted, nor will hounds like a cover where they are often changing.

The heading a fox back at first, if the cover be not a large one, is oftentimes of service to hounds, as he will not stop, and cannot go off unseen. When a fox has been hard run, I have known it turn out otherwise; and hounds that would easily have killed him out of the cover, have left him in it.

When a fox has been often headed back on one side of a cover, and a huntsman knows there is not any body on the other side to halloo him, the first fault his hounds come to, let him cast that way, lest the fox should be gone off; and if he is in the cover, he may still recover him.

Suffer not your huntsman to take out a lame hound. If any are tender-footed, he will tell you, perhaps, that they will not mind it when they are out: probably they may not; but how will they be on the next day? A hound, not in condition to run, cannot be of much service to the pack; and taking him out at that time may occasion him a long confinement afterwards. Put it not to the trial.

All hounds go fast enough with a good scent; but it is the particular excellence of a fox-hound, when rightly managed, to get on faster with an indifferent scent than any other hound, and it is the business of a huntsman to encourage this. Every minute you lose is precious, and increases your difficulties; and while you are standing still the fox is running miles.

When hounds flag from frequent changes and a long day, it is necessary for a huntsman to animate them as much as he can: he must keep them forward, and press them on; for it is not likely, in this case, that they should over-run the scent: at these times the whole work is generally done by a few hounds, and he should keep close to them.

The many chances that are against you in fox-hunting; the changing frequently; the heading of the foxes; their being coursed by sheep-dogs; long faults; cold hunting, and the dying away of the scent; make it necessary to keep always as near to the fox as you can; which should be the first and invariable principle of fox-hunting. Long days do great hurt to a pack of fox-hounds. I set out one day last winter from the kennel at half-past seven, and returned home a quarter before eight at night, the hounds running hard the greatest part of the time. The huntsman killed one horse and tired another, and the hounds did not recover it for more than a week.

* * * * *

The whole system of hunting is so revolutionised that the preparation which a horse now requires is very different to what it was in former times. The hour of meeting is seldom before eleven: the find generally quick and certain; and horses are often not more than five or six hours from their stables after the best day’s sport; and the ground they go over is frequently not so much as a plating race horse performs in contending three or four-mile heats. Having said this, I see no reason to doubt the propriety of feeding, sweating, and muzzling the hunter much in the same manner as the race horse, only making due and proper allowance for the relative nature of their work; particularly as to not stripping the hunter too much of his flesh; or losing sight of the natural difference between the thorough-bred horse and the cock-tail.

* * * * *

There is certainly no country in the world where the sport of hunting on horseback is carried to such a height as in Great Britain at the present day, and where the pleasures of a fox-chase are so well understood, and conducted on such purely scientific principles. It is considered the _beau ideal_ of hunting by those who pursue it. There can be no doubt that it is infinitely superior to stag-hunting, for the real sportsman can only enjoy that chase when the deer is sought for, and found like other game which are pursued with hounds. In the case of finding an outlying fallow-deer, which is unharboured in this manner, great sport is frequently afforded; but this is rarely to be met with in Britain. So that fox-hunting is now the chief amusement of the true British sportsman; and a noble one it is: the artifices and dexterity employed by this lively, crafty animal, to avoid the dogs, are worthy of our admiration, as he exhibits more devices for self-preservation than any other beast of the chase.

In many parts of this and the sister island, hare-hunting is much followed, but fox-hunters consider it as a sport only fit for women and old men. But although it is less arduous than that of the fox-chase, there are charms attached to it which compensate for the hard riding of the other.

* * * * *

The hunting match given by the Prince Esterhazy, Regent of Hungary, upon the signing the treaty of peace with France, was a day’s sport, that bids fair to vie in point of blood (if the King of Naples’ slaughter be excepted) with any of those recorded in modern history, as there were killed, 160 deer, 100 wild boars, 300 hares, and 80 foxes. The king had a larger extent and a longer period for the exercise of his talents, and it is proved that during his journey to Vienna, in Austria, Bohemia, and Moravia, he killed five bears, 1820 boars, 1950 deer, 1145 does, 1625 roebucks, 1121 rabbits, 13 wolves, 17 badgers, 16,354 hares, and 354 foxes; the monarch had likewise the pleasure of doing a little in the bird way, by killing upon the same expedition, 15,350 pheasants, and 12,335 partridges.

* * * * *

_Anecdotes of Hunting._—The late Duke of Grafton, when hunting, was thrown into a ditch; at the same time a young curate, calling out “Lie still, my lord,” leaped over him, and pursued his sport. Such an apparent want of feeling, we may presume, was properly resented. No such thing: on being helped out by his attendant, his grace said, “That man shall have the first good living that falls to my disposal; had he stopped to have taken care of me, I never would have given him any thing;” being delighted with an ardour similar to his own, or with a spirit that would not stoop to flatter.

* * * * *

“In this pursuit I (Colonel Thornton) sunk more than once, into a quagmire, where the prince’s whipper-in some years since, was hesitating whether he should go to the assistance of some hounds which had got an old stag at bay, but on his master’s asking if he were afraid, he immediately dashed in and sunk to rise no more.” It is indeed reported, that neither himself nor his horse were ever found.

* * * * *

One of the sons of Gosden, whose father was celebrated as the bold rider of Datchett, was out upon his favourite poney with the king’s stag hounds; he came to a part where the present D—— of C—r—d, was refusing a leap, when the bolder son of Nimrod, without thinking of the importance and rank of the person he was addressing, exclaimed, “Stand away, and let me take it, a pretty sort of a duke you are.”

* * * * *

He (the huntsman) died, some time since, at Duffry-hall, the seat of Cæsar Colclough, Esq. at the advanced age of ninety-six, near sixty years of which he passed in the Colclough family. He acted in the triple capacity of huntsman, steward, and master of the family. During the rebellion in 1798, he and his family acted with uncommon fidelity to their employers, as one of his sons, when Mr. C. was obliged to fly, came down to protect the house and property, and he never quitted his post. Another of his sons brought off horses and clothes to his master, at the risk of his life, when he was informed where to find him, and during that period the old man buried a large quantity of the family plate, which he afterwards conveyed to a place of safety.

Until the last year of his life he regularly went out with the hounds, and his voice retained its clearness and sweetness. He was well known to all sportsmen in that part of Ireland.

* * * * *

The celebrated Saunderson, professor of mathematics, at Cambridge, who was entirely destitute of sight, continued to hunt until a very advanced stage of life; his horse was accustomed to follow that of his servant, and the satisfaction of Saunderson was extreme when he heard the cry of hounds and the huntsmen, and which he used to express with all the eagerness of those who, possessing their eye-sight, could consequently be more gratified by the incidents of the chase.—_Strutt_—_Beckford_—_Brown_—_Thornton_—_&c. &c._

HUNT, _s._ A pack of hounds; a chase; pursuit.

HUNTER, _s._ One who chases animals for pastime; a dog that scents
game or beasts of prey; a horse employed in hunting.

To obtain a useful hunter, let the person purchase a well-bred mare, not so much regarding her size as her points of action—particularly requiring that she have a sound constitution and good legs. Let him send her to a horse of good form, _with freedom of action_ and a sound constitution; also being particular as to the state of his legs and feet. Never let him breed from a naturally infirm horse, whose legs have shown more than ordinary weakness; and, above all, let him fix upon one which has what the veterinary profession call a short canon; that is, the bone extending from the knee to the fetlock, commonly called the shank bone. Let him begin to breed from his mare before she is much injured by work; as in that case, if she does not breed to please him with her first and second foal, he can dispose of her and purchase another.

A very celebrated fox-hunter has observed, that “the goodness of the horse generally goes in at the mouth.” Let the breeder, then, bear this in mind, and take care that the foal be dropped early, and the dam well fed for the first two months with bran mashes, carrots, &c., till the spring grass arrives. If the mare should prove a good nurse, the colt will not require corn till he is weaned, which on no account should be delayed beyond the first or second week in September. Here the grand mistake has arisen, to which we are indebted for such numbers of mis-shapen horses as this country abounds in. Farmers, in general, never think of weaning their colts till after Michaelmas, long before which period there is little or no virtue in grass, but, on the contrary, it is sour and unwholesome.

From weaning time to the following May, the colt should be well kept on a full allowance of sweet hay, with at least two good feeds of oats per day, and _he should be kept warm_. He should have a head collar on, with a small strap hanging down to his knees, which will admit of his being handled every day; and every two months his toes should be rasped, and his heels opened a little with the drawing knife. In March or April he should have two mild doses of physic, which will cause him to grow; and when the weather is warm he should be turned out into a good upland pasture for the summer, with plenty of shade and water, but taken up every month to have his legs examined and his toes rasped. The second week in September he should be housed again for the winter, when his belly should be the measure for his corn. When docked, his tail should be left eight inches in length, which will preclude the disagreeable necessity of having the operation repeated.

Early in the following spring, when turned two years old, he should be broken, but not backed; and physicked as before directed. In the first or second week in June he should be cut; and when recovered he should be turned out for the summer. When taken up again for the winter, he should have two mild doses of physic, and be very well kept, giving him a few carrots, or a large bran mash once a week. Very early in the spring he should have a little more very mild physic; and in a fortnight afterwards he should be backed, and taught his paces by a person who understands his business. Idleness, from this time forth, will be an enemy to him; and as soon as he is perfect in his paces, he should do what in the training stables is called “a little work.” Exercise will strengthen his legs, enlarge his muscles, improve his form, and make him grow. From this time forth he should be treated as a horse in every respect but in his work, which should be moderate till the fifth year; but previously to that time a customer will always be ready for him, and if his owner is disposed to part with him, his average price will be from one to two hundred sovereigns.

When I say a colt should be treated as a horse after the third year, I mean, of course, that he should be treated after the system I have laid down for hunters, and not allowed his summer’s run at grass. Hard meat will make him powerful and handsome: grass will render him, comparatively speaking, heavy, pot-bellied, and shapeless.

I omitted to mention one very essential part of the education of a colt designed for a hunter. His action—particularly that of his shoulders—will be greatly benefited by riding him up and down hill, and trotting him gently in deep ground. He should also be taught to leap at three years old. If there should be the least appearance of a curb, the iron should at once be applied.

* * * * *

The hunter should be taken up certainly not later than the twentieth of July. Soon after this period the nights begin to get chilly, and his coat would receive a check if exposed to them. It would lose that soft, silky feel, which it generally has if the horse is in perfect health previously to that time. When first taken to house he should be kept as cool as possible, and, if it can be avoided, there should not be more than one horse in every other stall, be the stable ever so large. As his bowels will be relaxed by the grass he has been eating, his physic should be milder than usual; but that must depend upon previous knowledge of the constitution of the horse. Generally speaking, five drachms and a half would be sufficient, if well prepared by bran mashes beforehand. I do not approve of strong physic; because it is useless to give it, when mild, with proper preparation, will do what is required of it; but it is not in the power of a drachm or two of _good_ aloes to destroy a horse.

By the time he is ready for his second dose, he will be in some measure reconciled to the change of temperature—from the open air to that of a confined stable—and a little more caution is necessary during the operation of it. Unless the weather happens to be very warm, he should have a hood on him if he goes out early in the morning, and, at all events, one warm body cloth, or his coat may receive a check which it will not recover for some time. If he has had his first dose, a day or two after he was taken up—say the 20th of July—allowing seven clear days between the _setting_ of each dose, he will be through it all by about the 17th of August, up to which time, and for a week afterwards, he should have nothing but gentle walking and trotting exercise, of about an hour and a half at a time, before heat of the day; and by no means should a brush be laid upon him, as it opens the pores of his skin, and renders him more susceptible of cold. Indeed, all the grooming he requires at this time is to have his legs well rubbed—particularly with the hand—three or four times a day, and oftener if the circulation be languid, and his body well wisped with a good solid _hay_ wisp, a little damped. Should a horse have had some physic at grass in the summer, or _late_ in the spring, before he was turned out, and not appear foul, it may be better to stop a fortnight or three weeks between his second and third dose: and, if a bit of soft ground can be found, to give him a little work in the time. If his two other doses did not work him hard, it will be advisable to add half a drachm of aloes to the third dose, as it will take more to move his bowels now than it did before he got the hard meat into him, and had a little work.

The condition of a horse must proceed by slow degrees: it is the work of time; and it is in vain to expect it on any other terms than as the result of a long course of preparation, followed by severe work. In a clear fortnight after he has had his last dose of physic, he should begin to do some work; for without it no progress can be made. This, however, should be gradual; and for the first month should consist of long protracted exercise, rather than what is called “good work.” He should be kept out of his stable for three or four hours in the course of the day; and if ridden gently across a country, and now and then with a pack of harriers (weather permitting), it will greatly promote his condition, by hardening his flesh, increasing his strength, and improving his wind. At this time the use of alteratives is indispensable. By their mild and gradual impression a healthy action of the bowels is obtained, and thereby what in stable language is called “fog,” (but which might more properly be termed debility, or depression of strength,) is got rid of, and the general appearance and condition of the animal much improved. Indeed, without the use of alterative medicines—exclusively of physic—no hunter can be got into blooming condition; that is to say, to look well in his skin, to dry immediately after a sweat, and to be in full vigour of body. Of these medicines there are several sorts in use; but the diuretic and diaphoretic are in my opinion the best. It is almost needless to observe, that the latter act upon the skin: but as sensible perspiration in the horse is not to be obtained by medicine without difficulty, and having recourse to larger doses than may be safe or convenient for him to take when at work, and it is insensible perspiration that we wish to obtain, these alteratives should be combined; for it is from their gradual and almost imperceptible operation that we are to look for the effect we wish to produce. Antimony forms the principal diaphoretic; and from its weight a sufficient quantity—one ounce divided into four parts—may be given him every day in his corn for eight days together; but this should be given when the weather is warm, or danger from catching cold may arise, from the pores of the skin being relaxed. With proper precautions, however, none is to be apprehended, and the effect on the general health and appearance of the horse is striking. If the diaphoretic alterative, in the quantity above stated, be not given before the horse begins to work, and the weather becomes cold and wet, it is better to combine it with the diuretic, by giving him a very mild urine ball twice a week, for three weeks in succession, with half an ounce of antimony, finely levigated, in each ball. These medicines combined will check that excitement of the general habit which always accompanies a transition from rest to work, purify the blood, and give tone and vigour to the system. Nitre has been much used by grooms as a cooling diuretic, and a preventive of disease from such causes; but it must be borne in mind that nitre is a strong repellant, and of a debilitating nature.

All this, however, without a good stable, and good stable management, is of no avail.

Speaking next of feeding, Nimrod says:—Formerly wheat was given to race horses, as more nourishing than oats; but now the latter form the chief food for all descriptions of horses. Beans, however, have for some time been allowed to hunters, and when given with discretion are most beneficial. Two single handfuls in each feed of corn is the allowance for a hunter who is fed (as he ought to be) five times a day.

About eight pounds a-day of hay, or one truss a-week, is considered sufficient for a hunter that will eat five feeds of corn per day. A larger quantity is found to increase the size, consequently the weight of the carcase, to injure the wind, and destroy the digestive powers. If one handful of good hay be found in his rack, he should have no more till next stable time, when his appetite will be sharp. If given to eat his straw, the setting muzzle, in this case, must be made use of.

Hunters are not always to be fed alike: allowance should be made for the distance to covert; for when a horse has to go twelve or fourteen miles in a morning to meet hounds, he may be allowed a little more hay overnight, than if he had but four or five, as he will empty his stomach on the road, and there is reason to expect a long day. As to whether a hunter should have any water on the morning of hunting, that is a point not so much considered as it ought to be, for we should be guided by his constitution. If he is apt to scour, and throw off his meat on the road, I should recommend his having none; but if, on the other hand, he holds his meat well in him, has some distance to go, and is not called on till ten or eleven o’clock in the day, he should have six or eight swallows, or godowns, as the grooms call them, between five and six in the morning. This quantity of water, or more, is always given to the race horse on the day he runs his race, as it makes him enjoy his food, and digest it afterwards, and it is all absorbed by the time he is called upon to run. Nothing is so apt to make horses scour as change of food and water; for which reason it is advisable that a hunter should go from his own stable to meet hounds, if the distance does not exceed fifteen or sixteen miles, rather than sleep out, and be subject to the effects alluded to. If, however, he does sleep out, and is affected by the change, he should be watered before he leaves home, and have very little where he sleeps, which will in some measure counteract the evil.

Speaking of stable management, Nimrod says:—As no man can make good work without good tools, so no servant can do his duty by a stud of hunters without proper materials to go to work with. He must have a good stable, some loose boxes, and a good saddle-room with fire-place: he must have lots of horse-clothes of all descriptions, bandages, hot water, gruel, lancets, tweezers, and a few drugs—the very best old hay and corn, good exercising ground, and, above all, plenty of strength in his stable; for there are two ways of dressing a horse—one to warm him, and the other to starve him. Dressing a horse vigorously removes obstructions in the smaller vessels, promotes the circulation of the blood, and in bad weather is a substitute for exercise.

With regard to a horse coming round after a hard day, even supposing him to be in the hands of the best of grooms, that must, in some measure, depend on the stuff he is made of; but, generally speaking, he should come out about the sixth day after the severest run. If his legs have received no injury, he should come out three times in a fortnight, at least during the open weather; and he will be the better for being out twice a week if there have been no tiring days. Some horses require much more work than others; but none of them can go the pace, and continue it over a country, unless they are in strong work.

General rules cannot be individually applied; but there is one respecting a hunter which I have held inviolable; and that is, that, under all circumstances, whether the intervals between his hunting have been long or short, he should have a sweat, and go for a mile nearly at the top of his speed on the day before hunting. I have generally adopted the following plan:—

Let some heavy clothes be put on him, and, with a light weight on his back, let him go at a gentle rate six or eight times around a large field that rides a little deep, till he sweats kindly. Let him be followed to the place by a man with some dry clothes and a scraper, and, taking him into some building, or under a warm hedge, let him be well scraped, and have on his dry clothes. Then, if short of work, let him have a good gallop for a mile, and walk home. This treatment, with proper care, is unattended with any danger of catching cold, and, if followed by a proper allowance of hay and water, will give him a wonderful advantage over those horses which have not been doing what he has done, provided he drop into a quick thing with the hounds the next day. I have seen hunters led to be sweated by a boy riding a hack; but however great an advocate I may be for preserving horses’ legs by keeping weight off them as much as possible, yet a horse cannot, in my opinion, be worthy the name of a hunter if he cannot carry a boy in his exercise.

Having laid some stress upon the words, proper allowance of hay and water on the day before hunting, I will proceed to state what I consider that allowance to be. In the first place, if a horse will eat his corn in the morning without water, he should have none till he comes in from exercise, and is done up, which should be by ten o’clock at farthest. He should then have half a pail of water, and a proportion of his hay, which should not exceed, for a moderately-sized horse, ten pounds a day. He should then be shut up till four, when, before he is dressed over, he should have another half pail of water, and no more until he returns from hunting the next day, unless it be a few swallows on the morning he hunts, when his groom first comes to him. If this quantity of hay is not sufficient to satisfy his appetite, and there is an appearance in the morning of straw in the manger, as if he had been eating it, the setting-muzzle should be put on him at ten o’clock, and should remain on him for the night, but his groom should be with him by five in the morning, to relieve him. He should then have his two feeds, at an interval of an hour, and proceed to the covert at a gentle pace. If, when there, provided he have been treated in the way I have prescribed, he cannot carry his rider as he ought to do, we must conclude nature forbids it, as he will have had every assistance from art.

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When I first began to keep hunters, we knew nothing of those great restoratives in the stable—flannel bandages, hot water for the legs, and gruel. Except in case of illness they were never thought of. An old writer on farriery, the Sieur la Fosse, speaks of “the great advantage of keeping horses’ legs warm, as preventing glanders and other accidents;” but it is only within these few years that bandages have been applied as part of the clothing of a hunter; the benefit of which is, in my opinion, incalculable. By their use circulation is kept up in those parts where it is apt to be most languid; and the practice of washing legs in very warm water, and swathing them in large folds of flannel, takes off soreness and inflammation from blows and other injuries, which all hunters are liable to in a run over a strong country. Another advantage attending them is, that they admit of a horse being shut up in half the time it formerly required to clean him, which enables him to lie down, or roll, which he will always do if in a loose house, before he gets stiff from his work.

There is a cleanliness in not letting a hunter be taken into his stable until the rough dirt which hangs about him is removed; for which purpose he should be taken under a shed or into another stable; and the quickest method of removing it is by the means of a birch-broom. Three minutes will accomplish this. He should then be taken into his own stable, have two or three quarts of tepid gruel, and his feet and legs above his knees and houghs should be well washed in water nearly hot. When sponged well with strained sponges, one set of bandages should be swathed around them. His head and body should be well dried, which, if he is full of hard meat, will not occupy more than an hour, when he should be shut up in a loose house, well littered down, and a small feed of corn allowed him. In about two hours his groom should come to him again; his bandages should be taken off, his legs well wisped and hand-rubbed, his head and body lightly brushed over, and a dry set of bandages put on. A lukewarm mash, with a feed of oats in it, and three parts of a pail of tepid water, with a very small quantity of hay, will make him comfortable for the night; and on the following morning he should go to exercise as soon as it is light, and be walked for an hour with an extra cloth and a hood. He should have tepid water all that day, and a liberal allowance of it, with his usual oats if he will eat them, but no beans. If his appetite fails him, and does not return before shutting-up time that evening, he should have half a cordial and half a diuretic-ball mixed together; which, with a liberal allowance of tepid water, and an hour and a half walking exercise on the third day, will so far recover him as to enable him to return to his former high feed on the fourth; on the fifth or sixth have a sweat; and on the seventh be fit for business again (as far, at least, as his constitution is concerned) after the hardest day, and will carry his rider with more ease to himself than if he had not gone through it.—_Nimrod._

HUNTINGHORN, _s._ A bugle, a horn used to cheer the hounds.

HUNTRESS, _s._ A woman that follows the chase; a mare used in
hunting.

HUNTSMAN, _s._ One who delights in the chase; the servant whose
office it is to manage the chase.

It is the opinion of a great sportsman, that it is as difficult to find a perfect huntsman as a good prime minister. Without taking upon me to determine what requisites may be necessary to form a good prime minister, I will describe some of those which are essentially necessary towards making a perfect huntsman; qualities which, I will venture to say, would not disgrace more brilliant situations:—such as a clear head, nice observation, quick apprehension, undaunted courage, strength of constitution, activity of body, a good ear, and a good voice.—_Beckford._

HUNTSMANSHIP, _s._ The qualifications of a hunter.

HURL, _v._ To throw with violence; to play at a kind of game.

HURL, _s._ Tumult, riot; a kind of game; the bat used in hurling.

HURLER, _s._ One that plays at hurling.

Hurling is the national game of Ireland, and much practised in the southern and western counties. It differs from cricket in its being a mere contest between the opposing parties, as to which shall force the ball between barriers placed at some distance from each other. The ball is thrice the size of a cricket-ball, the hurl differently shaped, and the game of a wilder and less methodical character, as it affords a liberty for each individual to exert himself as he pleases. Hence the “melée” of a hurling-match has rather the appearance of hostile encounter than rustic sport, and is therefore better adapted to the rude and martial people who practise it, than the more scientific but less exciting game of cricket.

HUSK, _s._ The outmost integument of some sorts of fruit.

HYBRID, _s._ Any animal whose sire is of one kind and dam of
another.

HYBRIDOUS, _a._ Begotten between animals of different species;
produced from plants of different kinds.

HYDROPHOBIA, _s._ Dread of water; a malady destructive to the human
and canine races.

Hydrophobia in medicine is a disease generally communicated to man by the bite of a rabid dog, and is so called because one of its principal symptoms is the inability of the patient to swallow water or any other liquid. It is called by some writers canine madness, and seldom makes its appearance till a considerable time after the bite of the rabid animal. In some few instances it has commenced in seven or eight days from the accident, but generally the patient continues in health for twenty, thirty, or forty days, or even much longer. The bite will in general be healed long before that time, frequently with the greatest ease, though sometimes it resists all kinds of healing applications, and forms a running ulcer, which discharges a quantity of matter for many days. The approach of the disease is known by the cicatrix of the wound becoming high, hard, and elevated, and by a peculiar sense of prickling at the part; pains shoot from it towards the throat; sometimes it is surrounded with livid or red streaks, and seems to be in a state of inflammation; though often there is nothing remarkable to be observed. The patient becomes melancholy, loves solitude, and feels sickness at the stomach. Sometimes the peculiar symptoms, the dread of water, comes on all at once; sometimes the disease begins like a common sore throat, and the soreness daily increasing, the hydrophobic symptoms appear like a convulsive spasm of the muscles of the fauces. In others the mind is first affected, and a real dread of water arises before the patient tries whether he can swallow it. But in whatever manner this symptom comes on, the most painful sensations accompany every attempt to swallow liquids. Nay, the bare sight of water, or any thing clear, will give the utmost uneasiness, or even throw the patient into convulsions. The patient, however, is not as yet deprived of reason; some have, merely by the dint of resolution, conquered the dread of water, though they never could overcome the convulsive motions which the contact of liquids occasioned: and yet this has been of no avail; for the convulsions and other symptoms increasing have always overpowered the individual at last, and a great flow of viscid saliva into the mouth now takes place, and it has the same effect upon the fauces that other liquids have. This therefore is blown off with violence, which in a patient of Doctor Fothergill’s occasioned a noise like the barking of a dog. Patients then have an insatiable thirst, but are unable to get down any drink without the utmost difficulty, though sometimes they can swallow bread soaked in liquids, slices of oranges, or other fruits. There is a pain under the scrobiculus cordis, as in the tetanus. But the symptoms are so various, that they cannot be enumerated, for we seldom read two cases of hydrophobia which do not differ very remarkably. Sometimes every member is convulsed by fits, but most violently from the navel up to the breast and œsophagus. The fit comes on perhaps every quarter of an hour; the fauces are not red, nor the tongue dry; the pulse is not at all feverish; and, when the fit is over, nearly like a sound pulse. The face grows pale, then brown, and during the fits almost black, the lips livid; the head is drowsy, and the ears tingling; the urine limpid. At last the patient is weary, the fits are less violent, the pulse becomes weak, intermittent, and not very quick; and at last the whole body becomes cold. If the patient can get sleep, so he will expire. The blood drawn before death appears good in every respect. The hydrophobia seems to be a symptom peculiar to the human race; for the mad animals which communicate the infection do not seem to have any dread of water. If the disease once exhibits its symptoms in a human patient, the chances for recovery are small indeed; there having never been one well authenticated case of the recovery of a really hydrophobous person. Prevention is the only chance, and removal of the contagious matter the only fair hope of preserving life. Of all the means of removal, the cutting out the part to which the tooth had been applied is unquestionably the most effectual. This therefore should not be delayed; one quarter of an hour’s hesitation will sometimes prove fatal. But besides cutting away the part, careful washing may be used. Cold water should be poured upon the wound from a considerable height, that the matter may be washed away with some force. Even after removal by the knife, careful washing is still proper. And after both these, to prevent, as far as can be, the possibility of any contagious matter lurking about the wounded part, it should not be allowed to heal, but a discharge of matter should be supported for several weeks by ointment with cantharides, or similar applications; by these means there is the best chance of removing the matter at a sufficiently early period. Prevention may also be obtained by the destruction of the contagious matter at the part; and where there is the least reason to think that a complete removal has not been obtained, these should always be had recourse to. With this intention the actual cautery, and burning with gunpowder, have been employed; and fire is doubtless one of the most powerful agents that can be used for this purpose. Recourse has also been had to washing, both with acids and alkalies. Of the former vinegar has been chiefly used, but more may be expected from the latter, particularly from the caustic alkali, so far diluted that it can be applied with safety; for from its influence as a solvent of animal mucus, it gives a better chance of a complete removal of the poison.

* * * * *

The injured part must be destroyed, or be cut out. Destroying it is the most safe and certain, and the best applications for that purpose are the lapis infernalis and the butter of antimony. These are preferable to a hot iron, which the ancients used, because a hot iron forms a crust that acts as a defence to the under parts instead of destroying them. The lapis infernalis is much better than any other caustic, as it melts and penetrates during its application. The bitten part must be destroyed to the bottom, and where there is any doubt that the bottom of the wound is not sufficiently reached, butter of antimony should be introduced occasionally as deep as possible, and incisions should be made, if necessary, to lay open every part to the influence of the caustic. In desperate cases incisions should be made round the wound to prevent the virus from spreading. The wound is to be dressed for some time with poultices, to assuage the inflammation caused by the caustics, and afterwards with acrid dressings and hot digestives, to create a discharge and drain the injured parts.

* * * * *

It is my practice, and I recommend it to others when called to patients bitten by a mad dog, to try them immediately, and from time to time, with water, slopping it first into a pewter pot, and from thence back to the basin a few times, in order to detect as early as possible the hydrophobia, or first decided symptom produced by the poison of a mad dog.

* * * * *

An Italian surgeon of the hospital at Moscow, being in the Ukraine in 1813, was requested to give assistance to fifteen persons, who had received the bite of a mad dog. A deputation of elders waited upon him, and entreated him to administer help to the unfortunate persons through a peasant, who, during several years, had acquired great reputation for curing hydrophobia. M. Marochetti consented upon certain conditions. The country doctor then administered to fourteen of the persons confided to him in a peculiar way. The fifteenth, a young girl of fifteen, was treated in the ordinary manner, for the purpose of proving the effect of both modes of treatment. To each of the fourteen he gave daily one pound and a half of the decoction of the buds of yellow broom flowers, and he examined twice a day under the tongue the place where, according to his statement, little swellings were formed containing the virus of madness. These swellings rose on the third or ninth day, and were seen by M. Marochetti. Very soon after they appeared, they were touched with a red hot needle, after which the patient gargled the part with the decoction of broom. The result of this treatment was that the fourteen patients were cured in six weeks, whilst the young girl, treated differently, died on the seventh day in the convulsions of madness. Three years after M. Marochetti paid a visit to the fourteen persons, and they were all doing well. The same physician being at Padolia, in 1818, had a new opportunity of confirming this interesting discovery. The happy result of this mode of treatment was the same with twenty-six persons, who had all been bit by a mad dog.—_Gazette de Santé_—_Gilman_—_Darwin_—_Marochetti._

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JACK, _s._ The diminutive of John; an instrument to pull off boots;
an engine which turns the spit; a young pike; a cup of waxed
leather; a small bowl thrown out for a mark to the bowlers; the
male of some animals; a support to saw wood on; the colours or
ensign of a ship.

JACKDAW, (_Corvus monedula_, LINN.; _Le Choucas_, BUFF.) _s._ A
small species of crow.

This bird is considerably less than the rook, only thirteen inches in length, and about twenty-eight in breadth. Its bill is black, eyes white; the hinder part of the head and neck are of a hoary grey colour; the rest of the plumage is of a fine glossy black above; beneath it has a dusky hue; the legs are black.

The daw is very common in England, and remains with us the whole year: in other countries, as in France and various parts of Germany, it is migratory. They frequent churches, old towers, and ruins, in great flocks, where they build their nests: the female lays five or six eggs, paler than those of the crow, and smaller; they rarely build in trees; in Hampshire they sometimes breed in the rabbit burrows. They are easily tamed, and may be taught to pronounce several words; they will conceal part of their food, and with it small pieces of money, or toys. They feed on insects, grain, fruit, and small pieces of flesh; and are said to be fond of partridges’ eggs.

There is a variety of the daw found in Switzerland, having a white collar round its neck. In Norway, and other cold countries, they have been seen perfectly white.—_Bewick._

JACKET, _s._ A short coat; a close waistcoat.

JACKSNIPE. _Vide_ JUDCOCK.

JACOBINE, _s._ A pigeon with a high tuft.

JACOBUS, _s._ A gold coin of James I., current at 20_s._, 23_s._,
and 25_s._—_Crabbe._

JACULATION, _s._ The act of throwing missile weapons.

JADE, _v._ To tire, to harass, to dispirit, to weary.

JALAP, _s._ A purgative root. It is the root of a West Indian plant
of the convolvulus kind, is black on the outside, and reddish
within, with resinous veins. It takes its name from Xalapa, a
town in New Spain. Its constituent parts are chiefly resin and
starch.

JAMAICA PEPPER or ALLSPICE, _s._ A good carminative and cordial,
given in doses from half an ounce to an ounce, in flatulency of
the stomach and bowels, and used as an ingredient in cordial
medicines.

The following tincture is strongly recommended by Mr. Bracey Clark, as a remedy for flatulent colic, gripes, &c.:—

Jamaica pepper 1 lb.
Proof spirit 6 pints.—Mix.

Let the allspice be powdered, and mixed with the spirit; the bottle to be well corked and frequently shaken. In two or three weeks the tincture will be fit for use. The dose about four ounces diluted with water, and repeated every hour until the horse is relieved.—_White._

JAMES’S POWDER, _s._ A powder composed chiefly of antimony.

_James’s Powder_ is composed chiefly of antimony, and similar to that which is sold in the shops by the name of Antimonial Powder. As a horse medicine, the latter is as useful and efficacious as James’s Powder. It is an excellent medicine in fevers of every kind; and, though usually given in the small dose of a scruple, or half-a-drachm, may be exhibited with perfect safety, and better effect in a much larger quantity. White says, he never gave less than two drachms, and sometimes three; and has seen even one ounce given at a dose without the least inconvenience. It appears to act on the skin like tartar emetic, promoting insensible perspiration; its effect is not so certain. It is sometimes joined with opium, camphor, nitre, or ginger, according to the nature of the disease: with ginger it is prescribed for horses that are hide-bound; but this compound is not proper in fevers, or any complaint arising from inflammation. It is most commonly given with nitre and camphor; and some practitioners prefer it, as a fever medicine, to tartar (emetic).—_White._

JAPAN, _v._ To varnish, to embellish with gold and raised figures;
to black shoes.

JAR, _v._ To strike together with a kind of short rattle; to strike
or sound untuneably.

JAUNDICE, _s._ A distemper from obstructions of the glands of the
liver.

A peculiar yellowness of the membranes of the eyes and mouth sometimes attends certain disorders, which have on that account been named yellows, or jaundice. Those disorders consist in great heaviness of the head, a peculiar languor and disinclination to motion, yellowness, or a yellowish redness of the inner surface of the eyelids, while little or no dung is voided, and that little has mucus or slime on its surface; the urine is scanty, and high-coloured; in short there is great torpor in all the organs of the body. This disorder generally happens towards autumn, or the latter part of summer, and may be caused, in some measure, by the heat of the weather, as well as by feeding immoderately, especially upon hay, when it happens to be remarkably good and sweet, such hay always tempting a horse to eat immoderately: but it is produced by immoderate feeding upon any kind of hay, or even of corn. By this excess of food, assisted by the heat of the weather, the stomach is weakened, and the bowels become torpid; the large bowels are in consequence loaded with excrement, and the mesenteric veins with blood. Hence the liver also becomes loaded with blood, and performs its office imperfectly; the bile therefore seems to be forced back upon the circulation, or re-absorbed, and thus the blood and all the secretions are tinged of a yellow colour. The high colour of the membrane of the eye is caused by the determination of blood to the head, when the blood is forced into vessels which in health convey only a colourless and transparent fluid; and as the whole mass of blood is loaded with bile, it appears in those minute vessels of a yellow colour: and generally that yellowness in the membranes under the eyelids approaches towards redness, or the colour of an orange. Bleeding is the first remedy in this disorder; nor should blood be taken off in small quantities at a time, from a fear of increasing the animal’s apparent weakness, which depends more upon the brain being oppressed with blood than any thing else, but in a full quantity, that is, to the extent of from one to two gallons, or until the horse becomes faint. The bowels should then be unloaded by means of clysters and a purgative ball.

JAW, _s._ The bone of the mouth in which the teeth are fixed; the
mouth.

JAY, (_Corvus glandarius_, LINN.; _Le Geai_, BUFF.) _s._ A bird.

This beautiful bird is not more than thirteen inches in length. Its bill is black, eyes white; the feathers on the forehead are white, streaked with black, and form a tuft which it can erect and depress at pleasure; the chin is white, and from the corners of the bill on each side proceeds a broad streak of black, which passes under the eye; the hinder part of the head, the neck, and the back, are of a light cinnamon colour; the breast is of the same colour, but lighter; lesser wing coverts bay; the belly and vent almost white; the greater wing coverts are elegantly barred with black, fine pale blue and white alternately; the greater quills are black, with pale edges, the bases of some of them white; lesser quills black; those next the body, chestnut; the rump is white; tail black, with pale brown edges; legs dirty pale brown.

The jay is a very common bird in Great Britain, and is found in various parts of Europe. It is distinguished as well for the beautiful arrangement of its colours, as for its harsh grating voice, and restless disposition. Upon seeing the sportsman, it gives by its cries the alarm of danger, and thereby defeats his aim and disappoints him. The jay builds in woods, and makes an artless nest, composed of sticks, fibres, and tender twigs; the female lays five or six eggs, of a greyish ash colour, mixed with green, and faintly spotted with brown. Mr. Pennant observes, that the young ones continue with their parents till the following spring, when they separate to form new pairs. Birds of this species live on acorns, nuts, seeds, and various kinds of fruits; they will eat eggs, and sometimes destroy young birds in the absence of the old ones. When kept in a domestic state they may be rendered very familiar, and will imitate a variety of words and sounds. We have heard one imitate the sound made by the action of a saw so exactly, that though it was on a Sunday, we could hardly be persuaded that the person who kept it, had not a carpenter at work in the house. Another, at the approach of cattle, had learned to hound a cur dog upon them, by whistling and calling upon him by his name: at last, during a severe frost, the dog was, by that means, excited to attack a cow big with calf, when the poor animal fell on the ice, and was much hurt: the jay was complained of as a nuisance, and its owner was obliged to destroy it.—_Bewick._

ICHTHYOLOGY, _s._ The doctrine of the nature of fish.

JENNET, _s._ A Spanish horse.

JERK, _s._ A smart quick lash; a sudden spring; a quick jolt that
shocks or starts.

JESSES, _s._ Slips of light leather, seven or eight inches long, and
a quarter of an inch wide, made fast to each of the hawk’s legs.
These are to be secured to a small swivel, fixed to the end of a
thong of leather, three or four feet long, called a leash, so as
easily to be detached from the swivel when the hawk is required
to fly. The jesses are seldom removed from the bird’s legs when
once they have been put on.

JET, _s._ A very beautiful fossil of a fine deep black colour; a
spout or shoot of water.

JETTY, _a._ Made of jet; black as jet.