Waggery
Waggish
Wagtail
Wanton
Warfare
Warlike
Waspish
Watchful
Welcome
Whimsey
Wildfire
Wishful
Worry
Wrathful.
_Brown_—_Whitaker_—_Beckford, &c._
HOUND, _v._ To set on the chase; to hunt, to pursue.
HOUR, _s._ The twenty-fourth part of a natural day; the space of
sixty minutes.
HOURGLASS, _s._ A glass filled with sand, which, running through a
narrow hole, marks the time.
HOUSE, _v._ To harbour, to admit to residence; to shelter, to keep
under a roof; to take shelter, to keep the abode.
HOUSEDOG, _s._ A mastiff kept to guard the house.
HOUSING, _s._ Cloth originally used to keep off dirt, now added to
saddles as ornamental.
HOWL, _v._ To cry as a wolf or dog; to utter cries in distress.
HOWL, _s._ The cry of a wolf or dog; the cry of a human being in
horror.
HOY, _s._ A large boat, sometimes with one deck.
HUCHO, _s._ A fish of the genus Salmo.
The hucho is the most predatory fish of the salmo genus, and is made
like an ill-fed trout, but longer and thicker. He has larger teeth, more
spines in the pectoral fin, a thicker skin, a silvery belly, and dark
spots only on the back and sides. I have never seen any on the fins. The
ratio of his length to the girth is as eight to eighteen, or, in
well-fed fish, as nine to twenty; and a fish, eighteen inches long by
eight in girth, weighed 16,215 grains. Another, two feet long, eleven
inches in girth, and three inches thick, weighed 4lbs. 2¼ oz. Another,
twenty-six inches long, weighed 5lbs. 5oz. Of the spines in the fins,
the anal has nine, the caudal twenty, the ventral nine, the dorsal
twelve, the pectoral seventeen: having numbered the spines in many, I
give this as correct. The fleshy fin belonging to the genus is, I think,
larger in this species than in any I have seen. Bloch, in his work on
fishes, states, that there are black spots on all the fins, with the
exception of the anal, as a character of this fish: and professor Wagner
informs me, he has seen huchoes with this peculiarity; but, as I said
before, I never saw any fish with spotted fins; yet, I have examined
those of the Danube, Save, Drave, Mur, and Izar: perhaps, this is
peculiar to some stream in Bavaria; yet the huchoes in the collection at
Munich have it not. The hucho is found in most rivers tributary to the
Danube—in the Save and Laybach rivers always; yet the general opinion
is, that they run from the Danube twice a year, in spring and autumn. I
can answer for their migration in spring, having caught several in
April, in streams connected with the Save and Laybach rivers, which had
evidently come from the still dead water into the clear running streams,
for they had the winter leech, or louse, of the trout upon them; and I
have seen them of all sizes in April in the market at Laybach, from six
inches to two feet long; but they are found much larger, and reach
thirty, or even forty pounds. It is the opinion of some naturalists that
it is only a fresh-water fish; yet this I doubt, because it is never
found beyond certain falls—as in the Traun, the Drave, and the Save;
and, there can be no doubt, comes into these rivers from the Danube; and
probably in its largest state, is a fish of the Black Sea. Yet it can
winter in fresh water; and does not seem, like the salmon, obliged to
haunt the sea, but falls back into the warmer waters of the great
rivers; from which it migrates in spring, to seek a cooler temperature,
and to breed. The fishermen at Gratz say they spawn in the Mur, between
March and May. In those I have caught at Laybach, which, however, were
small ones, the ova were not sufficiently developed to admit of their
spawning that spring. Marsigli says that they spawn in the Danube in
June. You have seen how violently they pursue their prey; I have never
taken one without fish in his stomach; yet, when small, they will take a
fly. In the Kleingraben, which is a feeder to the Laybach river, and
where they are found of all sizes—from twenty pounds downwards—the
little ones take a fly, but the large ones are too ravenous to care
about so insignificant a morsel, and prey like the largest trout, often
hunting in company, and chasing the small fish into the narrow and
shallow streams, and then devouring them.
The hucho, as you have seen, preys with great violence, and pursues his
object as a foxhound or a greyhound does. I have seen him in repose;
they lie like pikes, perfectly still, and I have watched one for many
minutes, that never moved at all. In this respect their habits resemble
those of most carnivorous and predatory animals. It is probably in
consequence of these habits, that they are so much infested by lice, or
leeches, which I have seen so numerous in spring as almost to fill their
gills, and interfere with their respiration, in which case they seek the
most rapid and turbulent streams to free themselves from these enemies.
They are very shy, and, after being hooked, avoid the baited line. I
once saw the hucho, for which I was fishing, follow the small fish, and
then the lead of the tackle; it seemed as if this had fixed his
attention, and he never offered at the bait afterwards. I think a hucho
that has been pricked by the hook becomes particularly cautious, and
possesses, in this respect, the same character as the salmon. In summer,
when they are found in the roughest and most violent currents, their
fins (particularly the caudal fin) often appear worn and broken; at this
season they are usually in constant motion against the stream, and are
stopped by no cataract or dam, unless it be many feet in height, and
quite inaccessible. In the middle of September, I have caught huchoes
perfectly clean in rapid cool streams, tributary to the Laybach and the
Save rivers; and, from the small development of their generative system
at this time, I have no doubt that they spawn in spring. On the 13th of
September, 1828, I caught, by spinning the small dead fish, three
huchoes that had not a single leech upon their bodies, and they were the
first fish of the kind I ever saw free from these parasites.
They migrate generally when the water is foul, and, except in the spring
and autumn, do not so readily run at the bait. I was once nearly a month
seeking for one in rivers in which they are found, between the end of
June and that of July, without being able to succeed in even seeing one
alive; and, as far as my information goes, the two places where there is
most probability of taking them, are at Laybach and Ratisbon, in the
tributary streams to the Save, and in the Danube; and the best time, in
the first of these situations, is in March and April, and, in the
second, in May. I am told, likewise, that the Izar, which runs by
Munich, is a stream where they may be caught, when the water is clear:
and I have seen in the fish market at Munich very large huchoes.
* * * * *
I am inclined to believe that the hucho is to be found in some of
the mountain loughs in Connaught. Certainly I have seen fish of the
salmo genus, taken in rivers communicating with deep lakes in the
hills, which strikingly resemble the fish described by Sir
Humphry.—_Salmonia_—_Editor._
HUE, _s._ Colour, dye; a clamour, a legal pursuit.
HULK, _s._ The body of a ship; anything bulky and unwieldy.
HUMBLEBEE, _s._ A buzzing wild bee; an herb.
HUMOUR, _s._ Moisture; the different kinds of moisture in man’s
body. _Humours of the eye_ are these—the _aqueous or watery_,
which lies in the forepart of the globe; the _crystalline_, next
to the _aqueous_; and the _vitreous or glassy_ humour, which is
larger than the rest, and fills the backward cavity of the
eye.—_Crabbe._
HUNT, _v._ To chase wild animals; to pursue, to follow close; to
search for; to direct or manage hounds in the chase.
Hunting among the Britons is of great antiquity. Dio Nicæus, speaking of
the inhabitants of the northern parts of this island, tells us, they
were a fierce and barbarous people, who tilled no ground, but lived upon
the depredations they committed in the southern districts, or upon the
food they procured by hunting. Strabo also says, that the dogs bred in
Britain were highly esteemed upon the continent, on account of their
excellent qualities or hunting; and these qualities, he seems to hint,
were natural to them, and not the effect of tutorage by their foreign
masters.
After the expulsion of the Danes, and during the short restoration of
the Saxon monarchy, the sports of the field still maintained their
ground. Edward the Confessor, whose disposition seems rather to have
been suited to the cloister than to the throne, would join in no other
secular amusements; but he took the greatest delight, says William of
Malmsbury, “to follow a pack of swift hounds in pursuit of game, and to
cheer them with his voice.”
During the tyrannical government of William the Norman, and his two sons
who succeeded him, the restrictions concerning the killing of game were
increased. The privilege of hunting in the royal forests was confined to
the king and his favourites; and, to render these receptacles for the
beasts of the chase more capacious, or to make new ones, whole villages
were depopulated, and places of divine worship overthrown.
King John was particularly attached to the sports of the field; and his
partiality for fine horses, hounds, and hawks, is evident, from his
frequently receiving such animals, by way of payment, instead of money,
for the renewal of grants, fines, and forfeitures, belonging to the
crown.
Edward III. took so much delight in hunting, that even at the time he
was engaged in war with France, and resident in that country, he had
with him in his army sixty couple of stag hounds, and as many hare
hounds, and every day he amused himself with hunting or hawking.
James I. preferred the amusement of hunting to hawking or shooting. It
is said of this monarch, that he divided his time betwixt his standish,
his bottle, and his hunting; the last had his fair weather, the two
former his dull and cloudy.
It would be a needless task, to quote the passages in the poetical and
prose writings of the last three centuries, which prove that this
favourite pastime has lost nothing of its relish in modern times, but,
on the contrary, seems to be more generally practised.
* * * * *
If you have the whole country to yourself, and can hunt on either side
of your house, as you please, never (when you can help it) fix your
place of hunting till you see what the weather is.
Before a huntsman goes into the kennel to draft his hounds, let him
determine within himself the number of hounds he intends to take out; as
likewise the number of young hounds that he can venture in the country
where he is going to hunt. Different countries may require different
hounds: some may require more hounds than others. It is not an easy
matter to draft hounds properly; nor can any expedition be made in it
without some method.
When the place of meeting and time are fixed, every huntsman ought to be
as exact to them as it is possible for him to be. On no account is he to
be before the time; yet, on some occasions, it might be better, perhaps,
for the diversion, were he permitted to be after it. The course your
huntsman intends to take in drawing ought always to be well understood
before he leaves the kennel.
If your huntsman, without inconvenience, can begin drawing at the
farthest cover down the wind, and so draw from cover to cover up the
wind till you find, let him do it.—_Vide_ COVER.
While hounds are drawing for a fox, let your people place themselves in
such a manner that he cannot go off unseen. I have known them lie in
sheep’s scrapes on the side of hills, and in small bushes, where
huntsmen never think of looking for them; yet, when they hear a hound,
they generally shift their quarters, and make for closer covers.
Gentlemen should take this necessary part of fox-hunting on themselves,
for the whipper-in has other business to attend to.
Huntsmen, whilst their hounds are drawing, or are at fault, frequently
make so much noise themselves, that they can hear nothing else: they
should always have an ear to a halloo. I once saw an extraordinary
instance of the want of it in my own huntsman, who was making so much
noise with his hounds, which were then at fault, that a man hallooed a
long while before he heard him; and when he did hear him, so little did
he know whence the halloo came, that he rode a couple of miles the wrong
way, and lost the fox.
Though a huntsman ought to be as silent as possible at going into a
cover, he cannot be too noisy at coming out of it again; and if at any
time he should turn back suddenly, let him give as much notice of it as
he can to his hounds, or he will leave many of them behind him; and
should he turn down the wind, he may see no more of them.
There are times when hounds should be helped, and at all times they must
be kept forward: hounds will naturally tire on a cold scent, when
stopped by sheep, or other impediments; and when they are no longer able
to get forward, will oftentimes hunt the old scent back again, if they
find that they can hunt no other. It is the judicious encouraging of
hounds to hunt when they cannot run, and the preventing them from losing
time by hunting too much when they might run, that distinguishes a good
sportsman from a bad one. Hounds that have been well taught will cast
forward to a hedge of their own accord: but you may assure yourself this
excellence is never acquired by such as are left entirely to themselves.
Though I like to see fox-hounds cast wide and forward, and dislike to
see them pick a cold scent through flocks of sheep to no purpose, yet I
must beg leave to observe, that I dislike still more to see that
unaccountable hurry which huntsmen will sometimes put themselves into
the moment their hounds are at fault. Time ought always to be allowed
them to make their own cast; and if a huntsman is judicious, he will
take that opportunity to consider what part he himself has next to act;
but instead of this, I have seen hounds hurried away the very instant
they came to a fault, a wide cast made, and the hounds at last brought
back again to the very place from whence they were so abruptly taken,
and where, if the huntsman had had a minute’s patience, they would have
hit off the scent themselves.
When your huntsman makes a cast, I hope he makes it perfect one way
before he tries another, as much time is lost by going backwards and
forwards. You will see huntsmen, when a forward cast does not succeed,
come slowly back again: they should return as fast as they can.
In large covers, if there are many roads, in bad scenting days, when
these roads are dry, or after a thaw, when they carry, it is necessary
your huntsman should be near to his hounds to help them, and hold them
forward. Foxes will run the roads at these times, and hounds cannot
always own the scent. When they are at fault on a dry road, let not your
huntsman turn back too soon; let him not stop till he can be certain
that the fox is not gone on. The hounds should try on both sides the
road at once: if he perceives that they try on one side only, on his
return let him try the other.
If a fox runs up the wind when first found, and afterwards turns, he
seldom, if ever, turns again. This observation may not only be of use to
your huntsman in his cast, but may be of use to you, if you should lose
the hounds.
When you are pursuing a fox over a country, the scent being bad, and the
fox a long way before, without ever having been pressed, if his point
should be for strong earths that are open, or for large covers, where
game is in plenty, it may be acting wisely to take off the hounds at the
first fault they come to; for the fox will go many miles to your one,
and probably will run you out of all scent; but if he should not, you
will be likely to change at the first cover you come into: when a fox
has been hard pressed, it is my opinion, that he never should be given
up.
A perfect knowledge of his country certainly is a great help to a
huntsman: if yours, as yet, has it not, great allowance ought to be
made.
In a country where there are large earths, a fox that knows the country,
and tries any of them, seldom fails to try the rest. A huntsman may take
advantage of this; they are certain casts, and may help him to get
nearer to his fox.
Great caution is necessary when a fox runs into a village: if he is
hallooed there, get forward as fast as you can. Foxes, when tired, will
lie down anywhere, and are often lost by it. A wide cast is not the best
to recover a tired fox with tired hounds: they should hunt him out, inch
by inch, though they are ever so long about it.
A huntsman must take care, where foxes are in plenty, that he does not
run the heel; for it frequently happens that hounds can run the wrong
way of the scent better than they can the right, when one is up the
wind, and the other down.
When a huntsman hears a halloo, and has five or six couple of hounds
along with him, the pack not running, let him get forward with those
which he has: when they are on the scent, the others will soon join
them.
Let him lift his tail hounds, and get them forward after the rest: it
can do no hurt. But let him be cautious how he lifts any hounds to get
them forward before the rest: it always is dangerous, and foxes are
sometimes lost by it.
When hounds are hunting a cold scent, and point towards a cover, let a
whipper-in get forward to the opposite side of it. Should the fox break
before the hounds reach the cover, stop them, and get them nearer to
him.
When a fox persists in running in a strong cover, lies down often behind
the hounds, and they are slack in hunting him, let the huntsman get into
the cover to them: it may make the fox break; it may keep him off his
toil; or may prevent the hounds from giving him up.
It is not often that slow huntsmen kill many foxes: they are a check
upon their hounds, which seldom kill a fox but with a high scent, when
it is out of their power to prevent it. Activity is the first requisite
in a huntsman to a pack of fox-hounds: a want of it no judgment can make
amends for; but the most difficult of all his undertakings is the
distinguishing betwixt different scents, and knowing with any certainty
the scent of his hunted fox. Much speculation is here required; the
length of time hounds remain at fault; difference of ground; change of
weather; all these contribute to increase the difficulty, and require a
nicety of judgment, and a precision, much above the comprehension of
most huntsmen.
When hounds are at fault, and cannot make it out of themselves, let the
first cast be quick; the scent is then good, nor are the hounds likely
to go over it: as the scent gets worse, the cast should be slower, and
be more cautiously made. This is an essential part of hunting, and
which, I am sorry to say, few huntsmen attend to. 1 wish they would
remember the following rules, viz.: that, with a good scent, their cast
should be quick; with a bad scent, slow; and that, when the hounds are
picking along a cold scent, they are not to cast them at all.
When hounds are making a good and regular cast, trying for the scent as
they go, suffer not your huntsman to say a word to them: it cannot do
any good, and probably may make them go over the scent.
When hounds come to a check, a huntsman should observe the tail hounds:
they are least likely to over-run the scent, and he may see by them how
far they brought it. In most packs there are some hounds that will show
the point of the fox, and, if attended to, will direct his cast. When
such hounds follow unwillingly, he may be certain the rest of the pack
are running without a scent.
Different countries require different casts: such huntsmen as have been
used to a woodland and inclosed country, I have seen lose time in an
open country, where wide casts are always necessary.
When you want to cast round a flock of sheep, the whipper-in ought to
drive them the other way, lest they should keep running on before you.
Most huntsmen like to have all their hounds turned after them, when they
make a cast: I wonder not at them for it, but I am always sorry when I
see it done; for till I find a huntsman that is infallible, I shall
continue to think the more my hounds spread the better: as long as they
are within sight or hearing, it is sufficient. Many a time have I seen
an obstinate hound hit off the scent, when an obstinate huntsman, by
casting the wrong way, has done all in his power to prevent it. Two
foxes I remember to have seen killed in one day by skirting hounds,
whilst the huntsman was making his cast the contrary way.
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.
* * * * *
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._
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
[Illustration: THE JAY.]
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.
IGNITE, _v._ To kindle, to set on fire.
IGNITIBLE, _a._ Inflammable, capable of being set on fire.
IGNITION, _s._ The act of kindling, or of setting on fire.
JIGOT, _s._ A leg; as, a jigot of mutton.
JILL, _s._ A measure of liquids.
ILIAC, _a._ Relating to the lower bowels.
IMBROWN, _v._ To make brown, to darken.