I may just observe that otters dotted with white are not very uncommon; they are called by the lower orders of Scotch "King of the otters," and are supposed to bear a sort of charmed life. The spots are occasioned by ticks which attach themselves in vast numbers to the neck, shoulders, and back of the animal. I have killed one thus infested, and of course he was in sorry plight while the plague was upon him. An otter's sense of smelling is exquisite; so fine, that he can distinguish from the bank of a pool whether there be fish in it or not, and, I verily believe, whereabouts in the pool they lie. Having domesticated two otters at different times, which always came to a whistle, it was my chief amusement in leisure hours to practise them at their own particular game, and being provided with small live fish, I used to contrive to slip one unseen into a pond that was nigh at hand; the otter, after cantering round it in his own easy undulating style, and tossing his nose up to catch the wind, would always glide into the water like oil, and generally at the nearest point to the fish, which he took with a rush, and not, as has been asserted, by getting under it first by stealth. When there was no fish in the pond he scarcely noticed it, and objected to wetting his feet in search of prey which his nose told him was not there. If hounds draw a stream and come upon a trail, but disturb not the otter, and on the following day draw it again, all fresh trail will have vanished. The foiled bank alarms him, and the next night he fishes and retires to his holt without landing, and generally at a considerable distance up or down stream. His upper lips are large and thick, and apparently full of olfactory nerves, which give him this power. The jaws, too, are remarkable, being interlocked with each other at the points of junction, and not united by ligaments, as is the case with all other animals of which I have knowledge; and the canine teeth are peculiarly situated, but very advantageously so for securing their slippery prey.

The male otter possesses another peculiarity in the propria quæ maribus department, viz., a solid piece of ivory, which in some countries is valued as the spolia opima of victory, and when mounted with silver, serves for a seal or tobacco-stopper to the lucky captor. Its excrement, called by the sportsman "spraints" or "wedgin," is far from offensive to the smell, and varies according to sex; that of the male is hard and caked, but that of the female always in a state of mucilaginous pulp. The knowledge of this fact is sometimes very useful, as it enables the hunter to distinguish the sex of the animal before he disturbs him, which late in the scason he would be loth to do if he suspected a female on one of his rivers. The position of the wedgin on a stone assists the hunter in deciding whether the animal is up stream or down; for the wedgin will almost invariably be nearest the water on the side that the otter emerges, and consequently his head will be pointing in the opposite direction. This remark I had many years ago from a famous otter and foumart-hunter in Glamorganshire, called Evan Llanwensant. I have also heard the same from Sellick and John Roberts, in Devonshire, and my own observation assures me it is a correct one.

The seal of the otter is distinguished from that of other beasts of chase by its impression of five toes, without showing the nail-marks.

The description of the otter as "burrowing under ground, and always making the entrance of its hole under water, working upwards to the surface of the earth," is altogether a misrepresentation; and on examining its nails it will be seen how unfitted they are by nature for such an operation, and how very unlike to the claws of all animals that burrow for themselves. The seal can hardly be said to be a sure guide as to the direction of the unfound otter, inasmuch as he always passes over his holt for a short distance, and then doubles back to lodge. A love for the wild animal, and an innate passion for the chase, combine to render the sport of otter-hunting charming to the devotee. The pot hunter would be disappointed if he were not a Carthusian or Mr. Macgillivray; the former, though prohibited from eating flesh during his whole life, eats otter when he can catch it, and the latter gentleman fed upon it in Harris, but does not altogether recommend it to his friends.

In the first place it was my intention simply to have invited my friends to an otter-hunt, but having got upon his trail, to which I own myself very partial, I have been lured thus far in describing him and his wild habits, ere we actually bolted the live beast! But it is high time to turn to the hound and terrier, and to make choice of such a pack as shall enable us to prosecute the chase with vigour and success. The old stamp of hound already alluded to is beyond all others the best qualified for hunting the otter; let him be broken-haired, but not too wiry, as the weight of water would oppress him in his work; his colour must be ginger-bread, hare-tan, or black and tan. To the first and second I give the preference, as being most orthodox. His head and ears must be such as Landseer would love to paint, deepflewed, long in the face, with pendulous ears, and a high, sensible crown; his bone should be heavy, and if he be well-proportioned he cannot be too high on the leg, as in a long day, with much water work, he will have a wonderful advantage over a short-legged hound; for frequently where the latter is obliged to swim or struggle against the current, he touches and goes with comparative ease to himself, and of course endures the longer. Let not the large foot, too, be an objection, if it be tolerably well shaped (an essential for road travelling), as such a formation would tend to increase his power in the water; he must carry his stern boldly over his back; and, "last, though not the least," let him have a tongue like a tenor-bell or Old Tom of Christ Church. With ten couple of such hounds on a hot trail, no peal of bells in England would "awaken the wild response" with more melody, or on a "solid mark" the vibration of Tom after his hundred-and-one strokes, would not create so great a sensation to the sanguine and energetic sportsman. Lord Kintore, who is an indubitable authority on all matters pertaining to the chasse, has been reported to say that, "for a killing pack the qualifications of your hounds cannot be too varied; a small, sharp hound for the woodlands, a long raking hound for the open, and a steady stooping hound for the fallows." So for doing business on the waters, that pack will be found most successful where the hounds vary most in their accomplishments; a good trail hound, for instance, is not often a good marker, and a hound clever and solid on his mark will seldom do much on a trail. When you get a hound clever

in both departments, you may rest assured you have a rare and a valuable animal.

Especial care should be taken to enter hounds intended for otter at no other game, in the first place, as it will afterwards save a vast deal of rating and trouble. Once they become cognizant of the scent, you may then enter them at what you please, it matters not, they will always return with cheerfulness to the otter. The use of foxhounds in the pursuit of the otter is becoming yearly more prevalent throughout England; indeed I have frequently joined a very distinguished pack, and have seen them find and kill many an otter, but, to my mind, "it a'nt the real article." On a trail they carry head with such impetuosity as constantly to pass over the wild animal without coming to a mark; whereas a steady, oldfashioned pack will make everything good as they go; not a hover is passed carelessly or drawn in a hurry; speed is not required, and with the game before them they are never too blown to give the listener a full benefit of their deep-toned melody. On two or three occasions I have met the foxhounds just alluded to on a large and rapid river that abounds with otters from the sea to its source, and a headlong trail was invariably carried for 6 or 8 miles without checking; it would seem that no sooner were they over the trail of one otter than they flung upon that of another, and you had to ride at no trifling pace, to keep your eye upon the leading hounds. I may add, that on this river I never saw them find an otter. But, while referring to this pack, I must not forget to mention as a tribute to his memory, that it boasted of a noble, thoroughbred foxhound called "Waterloo," that as a chase-hound when the otter was moved, I never saw equalled in any pack, and ne'er shall see again. His sagacity was beyond the common brute-faculty in recovering his game, for when the water had been foiled by bungling men and the other hounds, and the chase was apparently at a stand-still, he would land, trot quietly on the bank down stream, take water, and heading back, slowly and carefully swim up, trying each bank in a zigzag fashion, until he came to a fresh mark again, and when he threw his tongue you might take your oath that there was the animal. Neither deep water nor the coldest and longest days ever beat him, and his excellence was such that he was kept exclusively for this sport. It is with sorrow I say it, this invaluable hound was killed by eating a rat or rats that had been poisoned near his kennel.

Undoubtedly by crossing the foxhound with the southern hound, some properties might be gained from the former that would be highly advantageous to the latter-constitution, for instance, which preeminently belongs to the foxhound, and consequently more power for enduring long, cold days; but, on the other hand, if you do cross them you entail the almost certain and hereditary loss of that fine manly tongue that is so much to be prized; at least it has always been so in my experience.

We come now to the terriers (or earth-dogs, as the name implies), which form a very important branch of the otter-hunting establishment, and therefore should be carefully bred and educated. They should be white or light-coloured, for it does not unfrequently happen that hounds in coming upon a mark will destroy by mistake

a dark terrier just emerging from a holt, and perhaps tainted with the scent of the otter; the colour deceives them, and the mischief is done in an instant: they should be small and short in the leg in order to fulfil their functions cleverly, as the underground gutters or drains, above the cover-stones of which the animal finds a dry and quiet refuge, are often partly choked, generally half-filled with water, and always difficult of passage. If they are wiry, especially about the muzzle, they do not suffer quite so much from the cruelly sharp teeth of the otter, and they must have thorough pluck and good tempers. It is necessary, too, that they be staunch from rats and rabbits, which otherwise would often cause bitter disappointment to the expectant field. On no account let a terrier be entered at otter before he is a twelve-month old at least. His confidence should be somewhat established ere he be brought to face so formidable a foe, or the chances are that his first punishment produces a sulky fit which will defy all encouragement for the future to make him serviceable. I make a point of buying, not breeding terriers, when I know their character to be good and undeniable, and by so doing am convinced I save myself much disappointment.

As a general rule, it is a bad plan to allow more than one terrier to go to ground at the same time. They are a jealous race, and in close quarters will fight desperately with each other ere they get to their common foe. Young terriers are frequently ruined in this way.

No sportsman crops a terrier's ears, or points his tail: for the former he knows shields the delicate recesses of the auditory passage from the loose earth or gravel that is always crumbling about his head when at work, and the latter is useful in handling or catching at him when at ground and barely within reach. Town-terriers, bull-terriers, and "curs of low degree" are cropped; it is a fancy they have for mutilating nature without a purpose, and being just as serviceable to their owners in this form as any other, e'en let them indulge in it.

One word more as to their management at home. Let your terriers be "trencher dogs," that is to say, let them have the run of your kitchen and chimney corner, or have access to the boiling house, where a fire should always be lighted against they return from hunting. Rheumatism, deafness, and incapacity will come upon them prematurely, if, after their chilly and wet-gutter vocation, artificial heat be denied to them. Let it be understood, however, that I hold all petted terriers as utterly valueless for the purposes of all wild sporting, and have seen many a good one, like Hannibal's soldiers at Capua, spoiled by luxury and indulgence. Turkey and Kidderminster have the same tendency to enervate the brute, depend upon it but once dried and thoroughly warmed, they may be "turned up" for the night in their own lodging house. The advantage of heat to the tired dog is very evident work, for instance, a team of strong spaniels every day for a week in a rough cocking country, and each night let them enjoy the comforts of a good fire ere they go to kennel; and work the same team on the same terms, barring the fire, you will find that in the former case they will continue fresh and ready for work up to the last day, while in the latter they will be found dull and slack, and usually off their feed

before the end of the fourth day. If I am asked to assign a cause for the beneficial effect I ascribe to heat, I answer, "that long and continued friction of the bones exhausts the sinovial fluid that lubricates the joints, the absence of which fluid induces pain and fatigue, and that artificial heat disposes it to flow again more readily, whereby the tired animal acquires rest and relief."

Having entered into a somewhat prosy description of the wild beast, with the style of hound and terrier necessary to its pursuit, I will conclude by hoping that all friends who are interested in this true British sport will be punctual at the meet on the 1st of next month, when an old dog otter will most assuredly be unlodged, and an unparalleled day's sport is confidently expected. For the present, then, adieu. G.

NOTITIA VENATICA.

BY R. T. VYNER, ESQ.

SECTION SIXTH.

ON PHYSICKING HOUNDS IN GENERAL.

We are now about to treat upon the practice of physicking hounds, which is far from being the least interesting topic embraced in kennel management, and concerning which more different opinions perhaps exist, than upon any other subject connected with condition. Food of the best quality, and properly administered, added to a well-regulated system of exercise, is no doubt the main point to be attended to in the management of not only fox-hounds, but all other animals whose corporeal exertions are required to be tried to the utmost of their abilities; but unavailing would this system of care and attention prove, without the timely execution of those medicinal auxiliaries, without which the various channels of the body, or secretions, would, from excess of stimuli, quickly become overcharged and devoid of their proper and natural tone. "It is the condition of the hound which gives him the advantage over the animal he hunts," says Colonel Cook, in his "Observations on Fox-hunting." how is this point of condition to be attained? Not by overloading his stomach with food, and, consequently, his circulation and absorbents with grossness, but by introducing a much and no more nutriment than can be easily and thoroughly cigsted. Of the feeding of hounds I have spoken sufficiently in a former chapter, and shall content myself here with making a few observations upon the medicine which is considered necessary to be used in getting a pack of foxhounds into condition. Nearly all huntsmen have their favourite receipts for physic; but, although there may be various ways of producing the effect required, still the principle upon which each plan is, founded must stand the same in ali cases. Large bodies of animals which are kept together, such as sheep, horses, cattle, hounds, and