Chapter M (8)

Opposite opinions have always been entertained by the advocates for each particular kind of chase, as may have proved most applicable and convenient to their situation, occasions, residence, and time of life. That every description of HUNTING has its proportional attraction to its distinct and different votaries is well known; but the constant struggle for superiority in vindication of their _respective sports_, has ever been between those who hunt FOX and those who hunt STAG; each being equally violent in defence of the cause his private or personal reasons prompt him to espouse. MR. DANIEL, in his "Rural Sports," when animadverting upon the STAG, makes the following remarks: "At the present day, as an object of chase to the sportsman, the stag requires but cursory mention: those, indeed, who are fond of pomp and parade in hunting, will not accede to this opinion; but the only mode in which this chase can recommend itself to the _real_ sportsman, is, when the deer is looked for, and found, like other game which hounds pursue. At present very few hounds, except those of the royal establishment, are kept exclusively for this amusement; and were the KING once to see a fox well found, and killed handsomely, he would, in all, probability, give a decided preference in favour of fox-hounds; for what a marked difference is there between conveying, in a covered cart, an animal, nearly as big as the horse that draws it, to a particular spot, where he is liberated, and cheerly riding to the covert side with all the ecstacy of hope and expectation!"

After quoting a few lines of beautiful imagery from the poetic sublime of SOMERVILE, descriptive of throwing off, the drag, the unkenneling, and breaking covert with fox-hounds, he proceeds thus: "The most impassioned stag-hunter must confess, that no part of his chase admits of such description. The only variety he can fairly expect, depends upon the wind and the temper of the deer, who, by being either sulky, or not in condition to maintain a contest with the hounds, (to whom he leaves a burning scent, that gives them no trouble in the pursuit,) shortens or extends his gallop; but there is none of the enthusiasm of hunting, which the sportsman feels, when he is following an animal, upon whose own exertions of speed and craftiness his life is staked; and where no stoppages, but the checks arising from the two sources above mentioned, intervene."

Without the most distant intent of endeavouring to depreciate the noble, exhilarating, delightful, and universally admitted excellence of FOX-HUNTING, (of which, by the bye, no adequate description can issue from the pen,) such few remarks may be made, as will display the sport of STAG-HUNTING in a different point of view to that in which the writer just mentioned has been pleased to place the picture; and probably rescue it from any little stigma of _disgrace_, or _inferiority_, which his promulgated opinion may have stamped upon the canvass. There is positively no instance in which the philosophic decision of SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY ("much may be said on both sides") could have been more strictly applicable, or more truly verified, than upon the present occasion. The candid, judicious and experienced sportsman will readily admit, that each retains its attractions too powerful to resist, as well as some inconveniencies impossible to remove: these, however, are reconcileable to the modification of those whose motives induce them to engage in either.

Previous to the recital of a chase with the STAG-HOUNDS, a few preparatory and comparative remarks are due to the observations already quoted from the justly popular work of MR. DANIEL. That there are but "few establishments" of the kind is certainly true, and for a most substantial reason; if they were numerous, the question would instantly present itself, from _whence_ are they to be supplied with GAME? The idea of "the KING'S giving the preference to FOX-HUNTING, if he had once seen a fox well _found_, and _killed_ handsomely," is an entire new thought; and affords immediate mental reference to the degradation of MAJESTIC DIGNITY, should it ever be found making its _dreary way_ through the _bushy brambles_ of a BEECHEN WOOD two or three miles in length, following the chase by the reverberating sounds of distant holloas! but without the _sight_ or _sound_ of a single hound. This is a constantly occurring trait in FOX-HUNTING, constituting no small drawback on its boasted _perfection_.

Whichever kind of chase is pursued, the ultimatum of enjoyment is much the same; horses, hounds, air, exercise, health, society, and exhilaration, constitute the aggregate: and TIME, which, to the opulent and independent, seems of _trifling_ value, is to the scientific inquisitant, or professional practitioner, neither more nor less than a LIFE ESTATE, no part of which should be _wasted_ or squandered away. The former class, in general, are industriously engaged in _killing_ time: the latter, who know and feel its worth, are as constantly employed in its preservation. The loss of time in the enjoyment of the two chases, is nearly or full _half_ between the one and the other: this is a circumstance, however, not likely to attract the _serious_ attention of the gentleman who has thus attacked the "_pomp_ and _parade_" of hunting the STAG; for as a clerical character, he had, of course, all the week upon his hands, being _particularly_ engaged only on A SUNDAY. To one of this description, who has most of his time to _kill_, and very little to employ, a long and dreary day through the gloomy coverts of a dirty country, without a _single challenge_, or one consolatory _chop_ of drag, must prove a scene of the most enchanting enjoyment; and in the very zenith of _exultation_, it must be acknowledged by professed and _energetic_ FOX-HUNTERS, that riding thirty or forty miles in wet and dirt, (replete with alternate hope, suspense, and expectation,) to enjoy the supreme happiness of repeated disappointments, terminating with a _blank day_, is equal, if not superior, to a STAG HUNT of even the first description.

STAG HOUNDS are very rarely kept, and the sport but little known in many parts of the kingdom: those of the most celebrity are the Royal Establishment upon Ascot Heath, in Windsor Forest, (see "KING'S HOUNDS;") the Earl of Derby's, near the Downs, in Surrey; and the Subscription Pack near Enfield Chace. The greatest inducement to hunt with either of which, is, the invariable _certainty_ of _sport_, that first object of desirable attainment, not to be insured with hounds of a different description; the great gratification of going away with the pack, and covering a scope of country, without perpetual interruption from frequent intervening coverts, where checks, faults, delays, and a repetition of _wood riding_, so often ensue. Stag-hunting, indifferently as it is spoken of by some, is too _severe_ and _arduous_ for others to pursue: laborious as it is to the HORSE, it is in many cases not less so to the RIDER: difficulties occur which require great exertions in one, and fortitude in the other, to surmount, and none but those can lay at all by the side of the hounds.

Rapturously transporting as is the moment of meeting and throwing off with fox hounds, no less so is the awefully impressive prelude to turning out the deer. The scene is affectingly grand, far beyond the descriptive power of the pen, and can only be seen, to be perfectly understood. Unless an outlying deer is drawn for, and found in the neighbouring woods, as is sometimes the case, a STAG, HIND, or HEAVIER, is carted from the paddocks of his Majesty at Swinley Lodge, (where they are previously and properly fed for the chase,) and brought at a certain hour, (ten o'clock in the morning,) to the place appointed, of which the surrounding neighbourhood have been sufficiently informed. At the distance of a quarter or half a mile from the covered convenience containing the deer, are the hounds, surrounded by the Huntsman and his assistants, (called Yeoman-Prickers,) in scarlet and gold; a part of these having French horns, and upon which they must be good performers.

In a very short time after the expiration of the hour agreed on, his MAJESTY is seen to approach, attended by the MASTER of the HORSE, and Equerries in waiting; it being the official duty of the MASTER of the STAG-HOUNDS to be with _them_, and ready to receive his Majesty when he arrives. So soon as his Majesty resigns his hack, and is remounted for the chase, the Huntsman receives an injunctive signal from the Master of the Hounds to liberate the deer. The moment which is obeyed, the usual _law_, amounting to ten minutes, (more or less,) is allowed for his _going way_: during this interval the sonorous strains of the HORNS, the musical melodious echo of the HOUNDS, the mutual gratulations of so distinguished an assemblage, and the condescending kindness and affability of the SOVEREIGN to the loyal subjects who love and surround him, is a repast too rich, a treat too luxurious, for the side of a fox-hunting covert to be brought into the least successful similitude.

The anxious crisis thus arrived, and every bosom glowing with emulative inspiration, a single aspiration of acquiescence, and a removal of the horse who heads the leading hound, give a loose to the _body_ of the PACK; and superlatively happy he who can lay the nearest to them. Upon the DEER'S going off from the cart, two of the YEOMAN-PRICKERS start likewise, in such parallel directions to the _right_ and _left_, as not to lose sight of the line he takes so long as they can keep him in _view_; by which means they get five or six miles forward to assist in _stopping_ the _hounds_ at any particular point where they happen to run up to them: and if it was not for this prudent and necessary precaution, half or _two thirds_ of the horsemen would never see the hounds again in the course of the day.

The joyous burst, and determined velocity of every hound, followed by upwards of a hundred horsemen, all in action at a single view; the spot embellished, or rather variegated, with carriages containing ladies, who come to enjoy the ceremony of _turning out_; and the emulative exertions of HORSES, HOUNDS, and MEN; afford a blaze of sporting brilliancy beyond the power of the utmost mental fertility to describe. At this moment of rapturous exultation only it is, that the kind of horse indispensibly necessary for this particular chase can be ascertained; for out of a hundred and twenty, thirty, forty, or a hundred and fifty horsemen, _seven_ or _eight_ only shall lay any where near, or within a hundred yards of the hounds; for the longer the burst, the more the slow-going horses _tail_; so that when the hounds are _stopt_ upon the heath, or in an open country, by the few who _are up_, lines of horsemen are seen behind, more than a mile in length, getting forward in a variety of directions, bearing no inapplicable affinity to various teams of _wild ducks_ crossing from one country to another. These horses, to whom it is all labour, are so distrest even with the _first burst_, that if the hounds break away, and the deer crosses the country, they are seldom to be seen at the end of a _second_. This is a most palpable and incontrovertible demonstration, that _any_ horse may _follow_, but none, except THOROUGHBRED horses, can go _with_ the hounds.

During the time the chase is suspended, and the hounds are at bay, (which is till the King gets up,) the exhilarating sound of the horns before them, and the clamorous impatience of the hounds to proceed, constitute a scene so truly rich and ecstatic, that the tear of excessive joy and grateful sensibility may be frequently observed in almost every eye. After this relief of a few minutes to both HOUNDS and HORSES, in which they collect their _wind_, and become proportionally refreshed, the hounds are permitted to break away, which they do with a redoubled ardour, as if it had absolutely increased by their recent restraint. The same scene of racing and _tailing_ continues during every _burst_ to the termination of the chase, the longer which is, the more the field of horsemen become reduced; while the blood horses only move in perfect unison, and, at their common rating stroke, lay with _ease_ by the _side_ of the HOUNDS; and this is the reason why, in _long_ runs, so many are completely _thrown out_, and left to explore their way in different parts of the country through which the chase has passed. One material difference is known to exist between this kind of sport and every other; the utmost fortitude and indefatigable exertions are _here_ made to _save_: in all the rest, the summit of happiness, the sole gratification of local ambition, is to _kill_: so that, at any rate, STAG-HUNTING has the plea of HUMANITY in its favor; in proof of which, the hounds are never known to run from _chase_ to _view_, but every individual is feelingly alive to the _danger_ of the DEER, who have so largely and laboriously contributed to the completion of his own most ardent happiness: a secret inspiration operates upon every latent spring of human sensibility; and no difficulty at the moment seems too great to surmount, for the preservation of a life in which every spectator feels himself most impressively concerned. This final burst of a chase is most dreadfully severe, particularly if the last mile or two is _run in view_; when which is the case, the deer exerts all his utmost and remaining power to take the _soil_, if water is within his reach: this he sometimes does with the hounds so close to his haunches, that it is impossible to prevent their plunging with him into the stream. In such predicament, if it is found impracticable to draw off the body of the hounds, to insure his safety, the YEOMAN PRICKERS, and _others_, are frequently seen above their middles in water, (uncertain of its depth,) to preserve the life of the DEER, at the hazard of their own. This may be considered, by the recluse and callous Cynic, a degree of valour beyond discretion; but the debt of humanity, like the Hibernian Major's _word_ in the Comedy, is "a DEBT of HONOUR, and must be _paid_."

The most moderate chases with the stag extend from an hour and a half to two hours; though from three to four hours is by no means uncommon in the course of the season. Horses too deficient in speed, too heavy in formation, too full in flesh, or foul in condition, frequently fall martyrs to a want of judgment or prudence in their RIDERS during the _chase_: every man ought to know when his horse is dangerously distressed, and of course should bow implicit obedience to the occasion: there are times when _self-denial_ would add lustre to the brow of a MONARCH; and it never can be displayed with a more humane effect, than when in the defence and preservation of so useful an animal; who, being deprived the privilege of free agency, is not possessed of the power to protect himself: under the influence of which consideration, there is not a SPORTSMAN of EXPERIENCE or HUMANITY existing, who would not philosophically retire with patience from the field, to save the life of a faithful persevering companion, than to see him _sink_ (never more to rise) a victim to inadvertency, folly, or indiscretion. In a severe chase of more than _four hours_, recited in the former part of the Work, (where the stag was taken at Tilehurst, near Reading, in Berkshire,) one horse dropped dead in the field, another died before he could reach a stable, and seven more in the course of a week. The concluding ceremony of the chase is the preservation of the deer, the baying of the hounds, and the melodious concert of the horns; after which the former are drawn off, and the stag, hind, or heavier, is deposited in a place of safety, from whence he is taken the following day, in a convenient vehicle constructed for the purpose.

The regular hunting days with the STAG hounds of his Majesty, are _Tuesdays_ and _Saturdays_, from Holyrood Day (Sept. 25) to the first Saturday in May; except in Christmas and Easter Weeks, in each of which they hunt three times. The two grand or most public days, are HOLYROOD DAY and EASTER MONDAY, when the field is uncommonly numerous; particularly if the weather favourably corresponds with the occasion.

STALING—is the evacuation of urine by either horse or mare, which is at some times partially obstructed, and at others totally suppressed. The secretion of urine may be retarded from a variety of causes; such as injuries sustained in the spine, particularly in the LOINS, near which the _kidnies_ are seated; and these, from their irritability, are also easily susceptible of disease, by which the discharge may be affected. The urine, with a horse or mare in a healthy state, should flow in a moderate stream, of a transparent colour, midway between a brown and red; not inclining to a milky, foul consistence, or tending to a tinge of blood. The evacuation should take place with ease, perfectly free from laborious groanings, and equally so from partial dribblings, or periodical trifling stoppings, which always denote a something imperfect in the secretion, or some obstruction in the urinary passages.

Staling, when the urine is strongly impregnated with appearance of blood, should be early attended to, as it is mostly occasioned by some serious injury to the kidnies, or elsewhere. It is very frequently brought on by hard, long and immoderate riding, or drawing; and may be the effect of a rupture of some blood-vessel, the seat of which it may be impossible to ascertain: if it should be a discharge of nearly pure blood, and that in any considerable quantity, great danger may be apprehended. Bleeding (to constitute revulsion) is a preliminary step to every degree of hope, followed by small quantities of nitre in powder, blended with equal parts of gum Arabic in the same state. Gelatinous fluids, as oatmeal gruel, or malt sweet-wort, with _nursing_, _rest_, and small doses of LIQUID LAUDANUM, are the only means to be pursued.

STALL.—The partitions into which a stable is divided are denominated STALLS; and the space allotted to each horse is called a stall. These, in stables constructed with judgment, and erected with a necessary respect to health and convenience, should never be less than nine or ten feet high, and six feet wide: the heighth will contribute much to the equal temperature of the air; and the width will contribute to the comfort of the horse in an occasional extension of his extremities, as well as prevent many of those injuries sustained in too suddenly turning in narrow and confined stalls, particularly in the common livery stables of the Metropolis. In many large equestrian and hunting establishments there are single stalls (called loose boxes) of such dimensions as are adapted to the accommodation of horses either _sick_ or _lame_, where they are then at liberty to expand at full length, and enabled to roll at their ease: these are of great utility, and few sportsmen continue long without them.

STALLION—is the appellation given to a perfect horse, not mutilated by the operation of _castration_, but preserved in a state of nature, for the purpose of propagation. Stallions should be of great strength, according to the distinct breed they are intended to promote, of correct shape, uniform make, and corresponding symmetry; free from every kind of hereditary taint; good eyes, long forehand, short back, round barrel, wide chest, straight legs, free from splents before, and spavins behind. Although it is a difficult task to obtain perfection, some little circumspection may be necessary, in coming as near to it as circumstances and situation will permit. Experimental observation has produced demonstration, that stallions really blind, or with eyes defective, have produced colts of similar description; such defects not appearing in their first _two_ or _three_ years, nor, indeed, till they have been worked, and the powers brought into action. Instances are never wanting of the great number annually disposed to breed, who as annually _repent_ for want of these prudent precautions. Not only the above points, but the temper and disposition of a stallion should be also attended to: vicious and restive horses should be equally avoided; those imperfections are very frequently transmitted from _sire_ to _son_, and continued to posterity.

Stallions of the racing kind were never known to have covered at so high a price as in the memory of the present generation. _Marsk_, after the appearance of that prodigy _Eclipse_, covered a certain number of mares at 100 guineas each; and none now of the first celebrity, cover at less than ten, fifteen, or twenty. Those in the highest sporting estimation, and announced for the present season, 1803, are _Alexander_, at 10 guineas; _Ambrosio_, 10 guineas; _Beningbrough_, 10 guineas; _Buzzard_, 10 guineas; _Coriander_, 10 guineas; _Dungannon_, 10 guineas; and _Sir Harry_, at five. _Hambletonian_, 10 guineas; and _Patriot_, at five. _Volunteer_, at 10 guineas; and _Shuttle_, at five. _Pegasus_, _Precipitate_, and _Sir Solomon_, at 10 guineas each. _Stamford_, _Idris_, _Meteor_, and _Mr. Teazle_, at five. _Sir Peter Teazle_, 15 guineas; _Young Eclipse_, 20 guineas; _Whisky_, _Worthy_, and _Waxy_, at 10 guineas; _Trumpator_, eight guineas; _Oscar_, at six. _Grouse_, _Gouty_, _Fidget_, _Totteridge_, _Don Quixote_, and _Old Tat_, at five guineas; and _Petworth_, _Stickler_, _Warter_, _Gamenut_, _Moorcock_, (brother to _Grouse_,) and _Zachariah_, at three.

The following famous stallions died at or about the dates annexed to their names. _Old Fox_, in 1738, aged 23 years. _Old Partner_, 1747, aged 29. The GODOLPHIN _Arabian_, 1753, 29. _Old Cade_, 1756. The BOLTON _Starling_, 1757. _Snip_, the same year. _Young Cade_, 1764. _Old Marsk_, July 1779. _King Herod_, May 12, 1780. _Matchem_, February 21, 1781. _Imperator_, 1786. _Morwick Ball_, January 4, 1787, aged 25 years. _Eclipse_, February 26, 1789, in his 26th year. _Goldfinder_, in 1789. _Fortitude_, the same year. _Conductor_, in 1790. _Phlegon_, the same year. _Faggergill_, 1791; and _Florizel_, the same year. _Fortunio_, _Jupiter_, and _Soldier_, all died in 1802.

STANDARD—is the name of an instrument by which the exact heighth of a horse is taken (to the eighth of an inch) when engaged to carry _weight_ for _inches_, or entered to run for a GIVE and TAKE PLATE. The standard is about six feet six inches high, and so constructed with a line and pendulum, in the centre of a circle, that no mismeasurement, by fraud or imposition, can take place. The standard is one straight square piece of oak or mahogany, and divided, from the top to the bottom, in figured spaces of _four inches_ each; every space of which is termed a HAND; so that a horse of fifteen hands is precisely _five feet high_. From the standard branches horizontally a projecting arm, of about twenty inches, or two feet in length, which sliding upwards or downwards, is raised higher, or sunk lower, with the hand, till it rests easily upon the extreme point of the wither; when, by looking at the proper suspension of the pendulum and the figures at the same time, the heighth of the horse is instantly ascertained.

STAR—is the white centrical spot in the forehead of a horse, directly between, and rather above, the eyes. These are considered great natural ornaments in _bays_, _chestnuts_, _browns_, and _blacks_; inducing DEALERS to remedy the deficiencies of nature by the obtrusion of art. This is effected by scraping off the hair carefully with a razor, from the part where the intended star is to appear, when, by wetting the surface with oil of vitriol, an eschar will soon appear, when which exfoliates, it is followed by a growth of hair of the colour required.

STARING OF THE COAT.—This external appearance in a horse, so strikingly denotes him _out_ of _condition_, or _diseased_, that it never escapes the eye of the most superficial observer. It is originally occasioned by a sudden collapsion of the porous system, from an exposure to cold chilling rains, after having been previously heated; a change from a warm stable to one less comfortable, and a consequent viscidity of the blood; or from a low, impoverished, and acrimonious state of the circulation. See HIDEBOUND, SURFEIT, and MANGE.

STARTING,—in horses, is an imperfection, if it becomes habitual, that is of the most dangerous description. It is exceedingly different from a horse _skittish_, _wanton_, and _playful_ only, for which the rider is always prepared; and if a good horseman, it is generally as pleasing to one as to the other. But when a horse is eternally in fear, and alarmed at every object unlike himself, he not only sometimes snorts and stops suddenly in the midst of a rapid career of either _trot_ or _gallop_, but, by an instantaneous spring of five or six feet, brings the rider over his head, or dismounts him on one side or the other. It is not at all matter of surprise, that most of the young horses brought from the country, should at first be alarmed at the infinite variety and velocity of carriages, as well as with other strange and unaccountable objects, to which they must have been entirely unaccustomed before they reached the environs of the Metropolis. Horses of this description, (good-tempered, and not viciously inclined,) are never known to be long so disposed, provided they are treated tenderly, and encouraged mildly to pass the object by which they have been so suddenly, accidentally, and perhaps unnecessarily, alarmed; but when the fools who ride them permit _passion_ and _inhumanity_ to predominate over reason, obstinacy on one side often begets opposition on the other, and accident or death frequently ensues; in confirmation of which, the following fact may be applicably introduced, as a check to the impetuosity of those _heroes_ on horseback, with which every road, and every country, so plentifully abound.

Some few years since, a medical practitioner, of much celebrity in the town of Putney, not many miles from London, being suddenly called from home upon a professional occasion, happened to meet a broad wheel waggon upon the turnpike road, at which the horse being greatly terrified, immediately started, and sprung to a considerable distance, producing, in fact, no small degree of alarm and passionate mortification in the rider; who most inconsiderately adopted the usual mode of attempting to obtain by _violence_, what might have been probably acquired in an equal space of time with _patience_ and _philosophy_. Not affording time to recollect that the horse had his sensations of joy, fear, surprise, and dread of danger, in an equal degree with himself, he immediately proceeded to the use of _whip_ and _spur_, till the horse approached the waggon, which the poor complying animal no sooner did, in obedience to his master, than a sudden gust of wind passing under the tilt, raised it in such a manner just in the face of the horse, that so strange and aweful a renewal of the first alarm repeated the start, and with such violence, that the rider was dismounted, and the wheels going over his body, he lost his life upon the spot. A retention of this transaction in the memory of every juvenile or inexperienced reader, may, perhaps, prove an applicable preventive to unmanly passion at the very moment of its intentional exertion.

STERN.—The tail of the HOUND, or GREYHOUND, is sportingly so called.

STEW—is a small reservoir of water, to which fish are brought from larger receptacles where they are bred or caught, and there deposited for the daily use of the family, the supply being constantly kept up in proportion to the domestic consumption.

STIFLE.—The part of a horse called the stifle, is the projecting point of the hind-quarter, which comes forward under the flank towards the belly, forming an angular joint from the round bone above to the hock below. Injuries are not often sustained at this junction; and when they are, it is much oftener by neglect, a blow, or inadvertence, than by unavoidable accident. Lameness in this part can receive no assistance from bandage; fomentation, embrocation, and rest, are the only means that can be adopted to obtain _relief_; for when a lameness in the stifle is severe, or of long standing, a perfect cure is seldom obtained.

STIRRUP—is the well-known polished iron convenience suspended from each side of the saddle; of a proper shape, make, and size, to receive and support the foot, for the joint promotion of ease and safety. Upon the length of the leather strap (called stirrup-leather) entirely depends the graceful position of the rider, and his command of the horse; if which is _too short_, he is in danger, upon any start or sudden exertion of the horse, of being thrown over his head: if they are _too long_, he is in an equally aukward predicament; for having then no assisting support, but the internal part of the knees, they must, if the horse is a rough goer, be soon in a state of laceration. The proper length of the stirrup-leathers, for either field or road, is so as to be able, when sitting firm upon the saddle, to disengage the foot from the stirrup with one action of drawing back, and to receive it again with the reverse. In racing, the stirrups are required a degree shorter; as it is by the joint and corresponding support of the knees, and the strength of the arms and shoulders, that the horse is held to his stroke.

STONE.—This is a sporting term upon the TURF, and used in _matches_, _plates_, and _sweepstakes_, to denote or imply what weight each horse is to carry; that is, so many STONE, so many POUNDS. Every stone is _fourteen_ pounds, and this is called "horseman's weight," in contra-distinction to a common stone, of _eight_ pounds, by which meat, and other articles in trade, are sold.

STOAT.—The stoat is a most mischievous little animal, very much resembling the weasel, and at a small distance, when running, not to be readily distinguished from each other. They abound near large farms surrounded with corn-ricks and faggot-piles, under each of which they ensure to a certainty never-failing protection. This diminutive pest, though but from two to three inches in heighth, (ten inches long, the tail half the length of its body, disgustingly hairy, and pointed with black, the edges of the ears and the toes both of a cream-coloured white,) is a most indefatigable, determined, and destructive enemy to GAME in all its _forms_, and POULTRY in all its _branches_.

STRAIN.—See SPRAIN.

STRANGLES—is a disorder to which young horses in general are always liable, and few or none escape, any more than children escape the small-pox, hooping-cough, or measles. It first displays itself in a heaviness of the head, a dulness of the eyes, a reluctance to action, a heat in the mouth, and a gradually declining appetite: this is followed by a swelling in the concavity beneath the under jaw, which being centrical, is sometimes surrounded by two or three tumefactions of smaller formation. These, in their progress to maturation, are frequently slow, and require patient perseverance in external application; for in all cases of suppuration, NATURE may be _led_, but will never be _driven_. During the time the matter is forming, and progressively getting into a state of concoction, an _internal_ soreness of the _throat_ correspondingly comes on, and is followed by an almost or total refusal of food. When it is ascertained that STRANGLES is the true face of the disorder, care must be taken to avoid bleeding, and every kind of medical evacuants, which would tend to embarrass Nature in her own efforts, and protract the crisis of disease; upon which the very safety of the horse, and his expeditious cure, entirely depend.

The strangles is a disorder standing in much greater need of nursing, and constant stable attendance, than the least medical interposition: the system requires to be kept up by art, and every nutritious attention in proportion as the appetite has been observed to decline. In its earliest stage, no attempt whatever should be made at repulsion, (by external astringents, or any spirituous application whatever;) on the contrary, hot emollient fomentations to the part, (with two sponges dipt in the decoction alternately for a quarter of an hour daily,) followed directly with stimulative poultices of a proper heat, _repeated_ and _patient_ offers of gruel and sweet-wort, mixed a little warm in a pail perfectly clean, and free from grease. Small quantities of mash (prepared of ground malt and bran, equal parts) should, at proper intervals, be placed in the manger: these and the gruel being constantly refused, the case will then require the additional adoption of a pectoral cordial ball, to be dissolved in a pint of gruel, and mildly insinuated about a third part with the horn at each time, till the whole is got down; and this should be repeated three times in every twenty-four hours, till the tumor is broke, and the crisis arrives; when which is observed, if the aperture is too small, it may be a little enlarged with the point of any instrument, that the matter may the more easily run off. To promote this, the poultice, covering a pledget of digestive ointment, should be continued for two or three days, when a cure is soon effected. Two or three doses of physic, or a course of alteratives, is always necessary after this disease.

STRANGURY—is a temporary suppression of urine in horses, brought on more by the indiscretion of their riders or drivers, than any morbid affection, or constitutional defect in the horse. It may proceed from a spasmodic stricture upon the sphincter, or the neck of the bladder, occasioned by a too long retention of urine; in continuing an immoderate length of time on the road, or in the field, during which the distrest animal has no opportunity to stale; as well as from a slight inflammation, or tendency to tumefaction, in the kidnies; likewise from calculous concretions in the bladder, jaggy particles of which may irritate, and painfully plug up the urinary passages. Some horses feel great pain when labouring under the suppression, which, when judiciously managed, seldom proves more than a temporary inconvenience. Instantaneous bleeding will sometimes, by unloading the vessels, take off the stricture, and produce instantaneous effect. If the horse is perpetually straining to stale, evacuating only a few drops, or partial dribblings, two or three cloves of a separated onion, or divided garlic, may be insinuated, and left within each side of the sheath; in addition to which, a large sponge, dipt in very warm water, and repeatedly applied to the neighbouring parts, will assist; those local applications proving salutary and expeditious substitutes for the more tedious process of medicine internally administered. In cases of long continuance, and increasing emergency, more commanding means must be adopted; of which DIURETIC BALLS, with a drachm of _camphire_, and a few grains of _opium_ incorporated with each, and periodically repeated, will be found to answer the most sanguine expectation.

STRING-HALT.—This defect in a horse is a kind of spasmodic jerk, or sudden twitching of one or other of the hind-legs in action, and has been, in different opinions, attributed to various causes, and probably by none to the right; as there is no one disorder, disease, defect, or imperfection, to which the horse is liable, upon the origin, progress, or cure of which so little has been introduced. It is conjecturally said by some "to be brought on by sudden colds, after severe riding or hard labour, particularly by washing a horse when hot with cold water; a practice too common, and erroneously ridiculous; and that it may also be produced by blows or bruises near the hock." All this may be well upon the score of speculative amusement, but it forms no feature of scientific disquisition. The string-halt, from its appearance, must palpably originate in a previous distortion of some part of the ligamentary junction; or a preternatural contraction, (or partial rupture,) of its muscular appendages; in either or both of which, no regular road to relief can be adverted to without a much greater probability of repentant trouble and mortifying disappointment.

STUBBED.—A horse is said to have sustained this injury, when in hunting amongst the stumps of newly cut coverts and underwood, he is punctured, cut, or bruised, in any part of the foot, coronet, or fetlock, by some of the infinity of stubs with which newly cut copses so plentifully abound. When accidents of this kind happen, the applications must depend entirely upon the magnitude of the injury received. In all slight cases, amounting to little more than simple laceration, Friar's balsam, tincture of myrrh, or even common vinegar, may soon close the mouths of the vessels, harden the surface, and effect a cure. Where swelling and inflammation ensue, poultices must follow; and WOUNDS must of course be treated as _such_. Although misfortunes may frequently occur, and cannot, even by the most circumspect, be always avoided, yet it is certain, more horses are stubbed by the folly and indiscretion of those who ride them, than by any casual or inevitable occurrences of the chase.

STUD—is a term applicable to three distinct meanings, and is so used in its different significations. A stud, in its more extended acceptation, applies to an aggregate collection of horses, without giving priority to any particular sort; as the person having a great number of horses, is said to have _a very large stud_; but the term, in its divided and sub-divided state, proves more extensively comprehensive. One is in possession of a very expensive RACING STUD; another has a numerous STUD of HUNTERS; and a third, still more opulent, or still more _fashionable_, shall have a BREEDING STUD, to produce an annual supply for the two preceding. The management of each _individually_, is now so perfectly understood, by those perpetually engaged in the practice, that no information can be derived from literary or theoretic inculcation.

STUD-BOOK—is the hereditary deposit of PEDIGREE, transmitted from one generation to another, and punctually preserved by the proprietor of every RACING STUD of eminence in the kingdom; in which may be retraced the exact lineal descent of each HORSE and MARE, from the earliest time in which _racing blood_ began to bear a promise of estimation. From a most industrious and elaborate accumulative collection of these, Mr. Weatherby has given to the public, a full, clear, explanatory and well-authenticated pedigree of between four and five thousand of the best bred horses who have raced and covered in England, Scotland, and Ireland. This publication bears the title of "Weatherby's General Stud-Book;" and must, to every sportsman of taste and literature, prove a most useful and entertaining volume.

STUMBLING—is so great an imperfection in a horse, that it affects his intrinsic worth, in proportion to the readiness with which it is perceived. Horses having short forehands, large heads, and thick shoulders, are the most subject to this defect of any other formation: those low at the point of the withers, (which is called being lower _before_ than _behind_,) in addition to the deficiencies already mentioned, are the worst of _stumblers_; the whole forming such a combination of _bad points_, as not to leave one enlivening hope of reformation. A horse addicted to _stumbling_, occasions so many dreadful sensations to the rider, that he may almost as well encounter so many shocks of electricity. Those who unluckily get into possession of such, cannot separate too soon. The old sportsman never rides a _stumbler_ more than _once_, which he thinks _once_ too _often_.

SURBATING—is a term getting into disuse, and with the last of the old school of farriery will in a few years be buried in total oblivion: this it well deserves to be, as a word without either meaning or derivation. Insignificant as it sounds, it has been, till within a very few years, used to signify a hoof so _battered_, _bruised_, and _worn_, with bad shoeing, bad shoes, and sometimes with _no shoes at all_, that the horse, having hardly any feet to stand upon, was then said to be _surbated_; which, in more explanatory and comprehensive language, is neither more or less than the sole of the foot so completely destroyed, (by the means before-mentioned,) that a horse in such situation is now said to be foot-foundered, who was formerly said to be surbated.

SURFEIT.—In respect to the disease in horses so called, it seems, with most veterinary writers of the preceding and present time, to be an almost indefinite or undefined term. It is not only differently described, but attributed to various causes; without the superfluous investigation of which, it is only necessary to observe, that it is the effect of acrimonious morbidity in the blood, possessing gradational shades of progress, in a corresponding degree with what is denominated scurvy in the frame of the human species. In the first stage of what is professionally deemed SURFEIT, the horse's coat partially stares, and is in some parts nearly erect: under the raised parts is perceived a kind of blue dusty hue, which, not counteracted by medical means, or an increase of good _healthy provender_, soon degenerates to a palpable scurf; this continuing to extend itself over the surface, so hardens by time, that each becomes a pustule or eschar, which afterwards exfoliating, leaves alternate appearances of the bare skin and hair, somewhat similar to an advanced stage of the _mange_, to which species of disease it is, in fact, no very distant relation. Its progress to inveteracy is not the same in all subjects, as it will continue its ravages with fixed scales, or dry barky scabs, in some, but will emit a sharp serous ichor from others.

This discharge is generally of such a sharp and acrid property, that the violent itching it occasions, keeps the poor object in a state of incessant misery; for when the disorder is far advanced, the time is so constantly appropriated to the indispensible office of rubbing, (for the attainment of temporary relief,) that very little is afforded to the purpose of subsistence, should pasture be furnished in plenty; which, with such unfortunate and unprofitable subjects, is very rarely the case. The first step to cure, is to alter and enrich the _property_ of the _blood_, by altering the aliment to a more nutritious and invigorating kind than it was before. In a week or ten days, when the frame is in a perceptible degree improved, a first bleeding may take place, followed by such antimonial alteratives, as may be found best adapted to the complexion of the case. Many instances there are, where, from long standing, and great malignancy, mercurial solutions, or vitriolic lotions, become so indispensibly necessary, that a cure cannot be perfectly insured without. When the system is in a certain degree restored, and visibly rising superior to the depredating effects of disease, _bleeding_ may be repeated, and _antimonial powders_ in mashes nightly administered, till indications of certain recovery appear, when a course of mild mercurial physic should be proceeded upon, that no doubt of obliteration may be entertained.

SWAINMOTE—is a peculiar court, appertaining solely to the LAWS of a _forest_, and held three times within the year. In this court the VERDERERS preside in the official capacity of Judges; for although the Warden, or his deputy, may take their seats in the court, they have no judicial authority there. The court of Swainmote may enquire of offences, receive informations, and proceed to conviction; but judgment is not within the limits of this court; their province extends no farther than to _hear_ and _convict_; judgment cannot be given but from the judgment-seat, where the JUSTICE in EYRE presides as chief officer; and all associated with him, are called Justices of the Forest. This court being a COURT of RECORD, can fine and imprison for offences within the forest; and therefore if the judgment is conceived erroneous, the record may be removed by _writ_ of _error_ into the Court of King's Bench.

SWEAT—is the transpiration of perspirative matter through the skin by the effect of an increased circulation of the blood. This, in a moderate degree, is so conducive to the _promotion_ of HEALTH, that those horses who regularly enjoy exercise to a proper state of perspiration, occasionally, and at proper times, are always in the highest condition; provided they are taken care of in proportion to the exercise each has had, or the work he has undergone. By the appearance of a horse in a high perspiration, immediate judgment may be formed of the property of his blood; and in a collateral degree, of the state of his health; for when a horse in good condition is under a profuse perspiration, the sweat is so congenially incorporated with the coat, (particularly if the horse is _well bred_,) that the hair lays so uniformly one way, that if the sun happens to shine, it seems a covering of satin: on the contrary, when a horse, after equal (or, in fact, much less) exertion, bears a _greasy_ kind of perspiration upon the surface, with the coat turning in different directions, bearing a gross matted appearance, and of a faint fœtid effluvia, the blood is in an improper state, and the horse in very bad condition. SWEATING a horse in the _stable_, by the administration of medicine, is a practice, the propriety of which has not hitherto been clearly ascertained; at least not perfectly demonstrated upon the true principles of science, uncontaminated by the obtrusive aid of deceptive speculation. See "TARTAR EMETIC."

SWEATING FOR THE TURF—is a sporting ceremony with training-grooms, to which, in their opinion, no small probable consequence is attached; as is fully confirmed by the invariable punctuality with which it is performed. The two reasons assigned for the necessity of this operation, is to preserve the WIND in its proper state of _purity_, and to prevent a superfluous and improper _accumulation_ of FLESH. Horses in training are (in strict conformity with this intent) sweated at certain periods, or intervals, of six, seven or eight days each; which are brought nearer to, or delayed farther from each other, by the increasing or reduced state of the subject so to be sweated. The ceremony is performed in the morning, soon after the dawn of day, under the ancient superstitious opinion, that the AIR is then more _pure_ than at any other part of the twenty-four hours; and with those whose department it is to execute the office, as much _imaginary_ consequence appertains to it, as to making up the most important national dispatches at the principal office of Administration.

The horse intended to be sweated, is previously loaded with a profusion of sheets, quarter-pieces, and horse-cloths; the number and weight judiciously proportioned to the quantity of perspirative matter it is intended he should lose: when all which is completely fixed in the stable, he is then brought to the exercise ground, with a light or _feather weight_ upon his back, where, after having been walked time sufficient to afford ample opportunities of unloading the carcase by excrementitious evacuation, he is permitted to start for a sweat of _two_, _three_, _four_ or _five_ miles, according to his age, his strength, his state of flesh, and the kind of race (in respect to distance) he is in training for; as well as the sort of course he is intended to run over. It is a most judicious and confirmed rule in sweating, that the horse is to begin at a very slow rate, and so continue till he has covered half the ground he is to go, when he should have his speed moderately increased during the third quarter, so that his fourth should be at a degree of speed very little short of his rate in racing.

Having ran his ground, and pulled up, he is walked in hand for a few minutes, to give time (in the language of the turf) for the _sweat to come out_, which, when the cloths are taken off, follows in copious streams that the animal seems to enjoy. At this moment two assistants are ready with each a thin wooden instrument, called a _scraper_, made of oak or ash, in shape resembling half the blade of a mowing scythe, (narrowed at the ends for the convenience of the hands,) with which they scrape the sweat from the neck, back, sides, belly, and quarters, so long as the least moisture is observed to appear; the moment which ceases, the scrapers are exchanged for wisps of soft straw, or separated hay-bands, 'till the body, and every part, is perfectly clean and refreshed. He is then furnished with dry sheets, hood, &c. brought to the ground for the purpose; when being led home to the stable, he is supplied with the necessary quantity of soft water, a little warm, previous to undergoing a regular and complete dressing, with greater nicety, than in the open air: when this is systematically gone through, he has a farther moderate supply of water, which is most commonly (though there are occasional deviations) followed by a warm and comfortable mash; upon depositing which in the manger, and setting the stable fair, the door is closed for a _double period_ of the usual hours for going to stable when a horse has _not_ been sweated; and although he undergoes the afternoon and evening routine of being fed, set fair, &c. he is neither stripped, or goes to exercise, any more on that day.

SWEATING OF JOCKIES—is a ceremony which every JOCKEY is under the necessity of going through when engaged to ride, and the horse is to carry less than his own natural weight. For the reduction of weight, jockies are obliged to encounter great inconveniencies, particularly when they have much to lose, and a very short time to lose it in. The means of reducing themselves to the weight required are various, and depend upon the greater or lesser quantity they wish to lose in a given time, and have to waste themselves accordingly. If they have but _two_ or _three_ pounds to lose, they will waste that in a single day's abstinence, and a morning and evening's walking: should four or five pounds be required, a gentle laxative, followed by two or three days extra walking, with an additional waistcoat or two, will generally carry the point: if more is necessary to be lost, it is sometimes a hazardous reduction, and great exertions are made to effect it: additional purgation, continued abstinence, increased perspiration, and almost perpetual exercise, all which, if persevered in to an extreme, tend to undermine the natural stamen by which the frame is supported, and absolutely saps the constitution. Instances have been numerous, where JOCKIES have undertaken to _waste_ fourteen or sixteen pounds against the day of running; which having been at no great distance, they have, in addition to the evacuations already described, submitted their bodies to the debilitating FUMES of a _hot-bed_; and what is still more extraordinary, to be immersed in the _stench_ and _steam_ of a DUNGHILL to effect their purpose, which so completely relaxed the solids, and deranged the system of the natural economy, that _consumption_ followed, and DEATH soon closed the scene.

SWELLED LEGS.—See LEGS SWELLED, HUMOURS, and GREASE.

SWELLING in the SHEATH or GROIN,—of a horse externally in good health, and without any predominant symptoms of pain or disquietude, is sometimes of little consequence; denoting no more than a general plethora, or distension of the vessels, which immediate bleeding, followed by gentle friction, and moderate evacuants, may be expected to remove: but if it makes its appearance at the crisis of any inflammatory disorder, of either liver, lungs, or kidnies, it may be considered a very unfavourable prognostic, and the worst is yet to come; though the writer has seen many cases of extreme danger, where the patients have recovered by persevering in the medical means which were previously known to be right.

SWAN.—The swan, as the most majestic and distinguished of all water fowl, is honoured with royal protection: those who disturb their nests, destroy their eggs, or injure, wound, or cripple the swans, are liable to imprisonment for twelve months, and a fine at the pleasure of the King. The corporate body of the City of London, as CONSERVATORS of the RIVER THAMES, have an annual aquatic excursion to Staines, (which is the western extremity of their boundaries,) in the most pleasant and most plentiful season of the year, with colours flying, music playing, and all the appropriate parapharnalia of the first and most opulent city in the universe. All the swans upon the Thames, within their district, are under the protection of the Conservators; and this display of civic grandeur is perpetuated from one generation to another, by the appellation of "Swan-hopping day."

T.