what addition it may please. Neither
should the nature of the food itself be disregarded. Oatmeal or
ship-biscuit ought always to be given, if alone the better, else rice upon
which gravy has been poured. Meat, when allowed, should be lean, and the
coarser the better. Paunch or tripe is excellent food for dogs, and for a
continuance I have found nothing agree so well. Horse-flesh or any such
filth is never to be allowed; this kind of food being very apt to generate
diseases of the skin. Dogs will thrive on liver, but it is too valuable an
article of diet for these creatures to be regularly given. When only
occasionally administered it has a well-marked laxative property, and on
this account will often be of service in rendering needless the use of
medicinal agents. In the raw state, if the animal will take it, its action
is more powerful; but after it has been boiled it generally is
sufficiently operative. The meat, whatever it may be, should, for animals
not in work, be boiled, raw flesh being more stimulative than their
comparatively idle pursuits demand. Such animals, in fact, may be said to
lead sedentary lives, and their diet must be lowered to suit their habits.
For the pointer, &c., during the season, raw flesh is actually to be
preferred, nor should the quantity be limited. The exertion is great, and
the utmost indulgence in this respect will seldom do harm; but my own
experience teaches me that the sporting dog is often crippled by being
under-fed. It cannot consume too much, neither can that much be too
nourishing, especially if the country to be shot over is of a hilly
nature. It is one of the prejudices of most men to believe that a feed of
oats to the horse, or a meal of flesh to the dog, just before starting,
gives strength for the labor which is to be endured. We cannot, however,
make strength as beds are made, at any moment, but the invigoration of a
living body must be the result of a slow and a long process. On the day of
work it is of less consequence what food is given than is the diet which
has been allowed the many previous weeks.

Regularity in the hour of feeding should equally be observed; and if this
matter be generally attended to, there will be no danger of its being
forgotten, since dogs' stomachs are excellent time-keepers, and the brutes
are not by any delicacy of feeling restrained from asking. The hour, after
a little while, will always for the sake of peace be kept, and the animals
will