The feeding of a pack of hounds is a matter calling for the exercise of great care and judgment, and cannot be properly carried out unless the establishment enjoy the services of a thoroughly trustworthy feeder. His duty is to cook the food, and to keep the utensils clean and the kennel sweet and wholesome. Hounds food comprises both animal and vegetable substances. Objections have sometimes been made to admitting the former into the kennel fare at all, on the ground that it is likely to impair the powers of scent, but the exception does not seem to be well-founded, because wild dogs, as also wolves and foxes, are carnivorous animals and live by the use of their scenting powers; in moderation flesh is a necessity. Wheatmeal and barleymeal are eschewed, coarse oatmeal a twelvemonth old being the only thing fit to feed hounds with. The meal is boiled in a large iron boiler (a smaller one of the same metal being reserved for boiling the flesh), and during the cooking the feeder must be on the watch lest any of it stick to the bottom of the boiler. When sufficiently cooked it is turned out into coolers. On meat being given it is cut into small pieces and stirred into the pudding. In the summer young cabbages, given once every four days, form a wholesome food, and are vastly superior to potatoes, swedes, or any other root. With proper diet, an occasional alterative, and plenty of exercise, hounds should seldom or never require to be plastered over with ointment in consequence of skin irrita tions. The benches should be littered with good dry wheat-straw, which should be taken out of the kennel and shaken up every morning when the hounds are at exercise. Great cleanliness is indispensable; the natural odour of a kennel is none of the sweetest, and if hounds are kept in the midst of dirt their powers of scent will speedily deteriorate.
The harrier like the foxhound is a very different animal from what he was one hundred years ago. Then there were several sorts used in hare-hunting; first came the old southern hound, used principally in heavy countries; the second variety was a somewhat faster dog, with a sharp nose and pointed ears, and was best adapted for an open country; thirdly, a rougher-coated hound; and lastly, the old fashioned blue mottled harrier, found in the Weald of Sussex and some parts of Kent. The first and last of the above list are said to have been endowed with wonderful scenting powers, and we are told that when these hounds were in use a run of six hours after a hare was no uncommon occurrence; but they were so slow that the same authority tells us that they fatigued "the healthy foot-man very little." It is probable that the Sussex blue mottled hound was the result of the first attempt to im prove the old southern hound, and to obtain a species particularly suitable for hare-hunting, but since then almost all the traces of the old harrier have disappeared, until at the present time the modern harrier is little more than a dwarf foxhound. When pursued by the old-fashioned harrier, the hare had time to indulge in all those wiles in which our forefathers delighted, and of which they wrote at length in the hunting treatises of their time; but with the taste of the day in favour of pace, and with the modern harrier, the " curious and lasting sport " of old has been put an end to, and now the hare must, if the scent be moderately good, simply get away as far and as fast as possible. The late Sir John Dashwood King, of West Wycombe Park, Bucks, is said to have been the breeder to whom the sportsman is indebted for the present race of harriers. His pack did not exceed 18 inches in height. The parent stock was a small foxhound from the duke of Grafton s kennel, named Tyrant, whose blood, form, and character were apparent throughout; and so highly was the pack thought of that Lord Sondes, of Rockingham Castle, gave 700 guineas for it.
The beagle (see Dog) is used in hunting the hare, but Beagle from its diminutive size it is not possessed of great pace; it is therefore generally followed on foot, but it is a good plan to have one person on horseback, in order that the pack may be stopped if they get away from the field and make for a cover.
The real otter hound bears a strong resemblance to the old southern hound. The head is heavier than that of the foxhound, and the eyes are deeply set as in a blood hound. The coat is rough and somewhat wiry, but it should be thick. The otter hound is not very common, foxhounds being often used for otter hunting; but the Carlisle pack is of the true breed.
The remarks already made on kennel management apply, for the most part, in the cases of hounds other than fox hounds; all varieties need the same cleanliness and atten tion. The different game for which the hounds are entered of course necessitate some trivial adaptation from the course pursued in foxhound kennels, but speaking generally the management is the same.
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HOUNSLOW, a township, formerly a market-town, in the parishes of Isleworth and Heston, county of Middlesex, England, is situated on the great western coach road, and on a branch of the London and South-Western Railway, 9 miles from Hyde Park Corner. In the Domesday survey Hounslow is mentioned as Honesloive and Hundtdawe. It consists chiefly of one street about a mile in length. In the 17th century it numbered about 120 houses, principally alehouses and inns. Previous to the opening of the railway nearly 500 coaches passed through the town daily. Of late years it has considerably recovered from the depression caused by the opening of the railway, and a number of fine villas have been erected in the neighbourhood. A priory of friars of the Holy Trinity was founded at Hounslow in 1296, and existed till the dissolution of the monasteries. The priory chapel was used as a church till 1830, when it was demolished, and the present church in the later style of English architecture erected. Another church in the Early English style was erected in 1874, and a town-hall in 1857. The surrounding country is flat and uninteresting, and to the west of the town there was at one time an extensive heath, which, according to the survey of 1546, had an area of 4293 acres. It is the site of Roman and old British camps, and in later history was the scene of several important military rendezvous. For many years the heath was a favourite resort of highwaymen, the car cases of whom used to be exposed on gibbets along the road. According to an Act passed in the 53d of George III., the heath has been enclosed, and it is now nearly all cultivated. In 1793 large cavalry barracks were erected upon it, and it also affords a site of extensive powder-mills. The population of the township in 1861 was 5760, and in 1871 it had increased to 9294.
