ON TRAINING THE RACE HORSE.

BY COTHERSTONE.

CHAP. XXIX.-WASTING.

For the purpose of complying with the present customs of the turf, which have appointed the weight to be carried by race-horses considerably below the average standard of the human species, the jockey is under the necessity very frequently of reducing his natural corpulence by a system of training severe and unpleasant, and performed with the utmost labour.

Various constitutions require different treatment: some can scarcely bear any aperient medicine; others require a considerable quantity. Men who are good walkers are under the necessity of performing long and forced marches which others cannot endure. Those who are of a cold temperament, with a languid circulation, require a considerable quantity of flannels, vulgarly denominated sweaters; and others will obtain the necessary evaporation with very light ones. It is therefore impossible to lay down a precise rule, that every man is to take a certain quantity of medicine, walk a specific distance, and wear a given quantity of clothing; such things must be regulated by circumstances dependent upon the constitution and health of the individual, as also by the weather, the weight to be reduced, and the time that can be afforded to accomplish the task in. Many persons are of opinion, and amongst them some of the medical profession, that the course adopted by jockeys to reduce their weight is injurious to their health. Under proper restrictions, and judiciously carried on by a man enjoying good health, I have no hesitation in pronouncing it the most certain remedy that can be employed for the preservation of that blessing. To those who labour under consumptive diseases, or other internal complaints, it may be injurious; but there is no doubt that all classes, above the common labourer in this country, do not, generally speaking, take sufficient exercise, and eat too much animal food. Strong walking exercise, with a light diet, is the ordeal which a jockey observes to reduce himself; and, if not carried on to excess, although it is very hard work, it is certainly not injurious to health. In the course of these observations, I am presuming that time will permit of a course of wasting being adopted in the most regular and salutary manner, otherwise I would not advocate it; therefore, to propose a course of treatment at variance with an established opinion, would be either a positive contradiction of one's belief, or it would convey an impression of doubt as to the consequences. True it is men may often be tempted to reduce themselves very rapidly; but that is no evidence of the propriety of

the act.

Previously to walking, two or three doses of mild aperient medi

cine should be taken, at intervals of about three days between each. From two to three of the following pills, taken at bedtime, will be found mild and effectual; and, if necessary, a small proportion of Epsom salts, with or without an infusion of senna, may be taken on the following morning, or the latter mixture without the aid of the pills

When this course is commenced, a very light diet should be adopted; very little, if any, animal food should be indulged in, by which means the blood will gradually become prepared for the approaching exertion.

The quantity of clothing must be apportioned according to the weather and the constitution of the person making use of them. Three or four waistcoats, and two pairs of drawers, made of the yellow flannel usually procured at Newmarket, are generally sufficient, although some persons will encase themselves in eight or nine waistcoats and four pairs of drawers. Loose smallclothes and gaiters are the most appropriate; with a great-coat over all, a shawl round the neck, and a pair of woollen gloves to complete the costume.

Some attention is requisite in having the waistcoats and drawers to fit accurately; and they should be in successive sizes, so that the uppermost be larger than those which are near the body: if they wrinkle they will chafe the wearer, and become very unpleasant. In putting them on, two, or at most three, of the waistcoats are to go within the drawers, the remainder outside. Two waistcoats may be worn with sleeves, the remainder without: if additional warmth is required for the arm, the legs of a pair of stockings, the feet being cut off, will be found as convenient an addition as any, because the elasticity will afford the wearer more comfort than too many thicknesses of flannel.

The usual time for walking is in the morning; but the period must frequently be regulated by the weather. The less indulgence in bed the better. Previously to starting, a cup of coffee, with a biscuit or a piece of dry toast, should be taken, and the addition of an egg may be occasionally indulged in. By taking a very moderate portion of light food an hour before the walk is commenced, the body will be in a state of vigour to encounter the fatigues, whilst there can be nothing to apprehend from an overloaded stomach.

The first two or three miles should be performed at a moderate pace, just sufficient to produce strong perspiration. It must always be remembered, that if either man or horse goes too fast, so as to become blown or out of breath, the object of perspiring is defeated. In the first place, the perspiration will not flow so profusely and regularly, neither can the pace be continued at that rate necessary to maintain the increased circulation, if the respiratory organs become overexcited. A certain portion of vital air is requisite to give free action. to the lungs, and thereby render the blood fit for circulation, which must be attended to in regulating the pace. The first walk should

not exceed seven or eight miles-three and a half or four miles out, and back again. It is a custom with many persons to rest for a time, when the first half of the walk is performed; but I am very doubtful of the propriety of such plan; the circulation naturally abates, and a very few minutes of indulgence permit the clothes, which are so thoroughly impregnated with humid vapour, to become cold; and the body being chilled thereby, requires much labour to restore the same degree of perspiration as that which excited when the restingplace was sought for. Any liquid which is most agreeable may be taken, just to re-animate nature; but the less time there is lost, the

better.

The walk home should be performed at a good strong pace, increasing the speed during the last mile: this is an effort which requires a considerable degree of pluck, and one which many men fail in, unless excited by the presence of a companion. Warm water should be in readiness, to wash the mouth on entering the house. A cup of tea, a glass of hot negus, or cider, will then afford refreshment, and assist by its stimulating property in causing the perspiration to flow copiously.

A lounge on a sofa, or bed, with blankets thrown over the body or head, should precede the operation of undressing, which should be deferred till the perspiration has nearly subsided. A large foot-pan, with warm water, to immerse the feet, and a sponge to wash the body, will be very refreshing after the exertion. The dress to be put on should consist of flannel, next to the skin. The chilly state of the constitution when undergoing this preparation requires warmth; and indeed, unless the weather be exceedingly hot, inclination will point out the necessity of being well clothed. The more exercise taken during the remainder of the day, the better; as it not only assists in the object of reducing the weight, but it averts much danger which might attend an alteration in the circulation of the blood.

Ön race days, the walk should be completed early in the morning, so as to allow of plenty of time to become gradually cool before the racing-clothes are put on; at least an hour and a half should be calculated after returning from the walk, and which walk on the day of running will generally be found necessary if much reduction in weight is required. In the first place, a man is always a pound or two heavier the day after he has walked, even if he takes scarcely any food, than he is during the four or five hours immediately succeeding a walk even if he be sufficiently light, a good walk on the morning, with a very light breakfast, will enable a man to ride with greater power and comfort to himself, than if he were to pass two or three additional hours in bed, and abstain totally from food.

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When a man has once reduced himself to the required weight, he may keep himself at that standard by walking three or four days in the week, and, by such a system, appease the calls of hunger more satisfactorily than is compatible with his decrease in the first instance. A careful attention all the year round would be much more conducive to health than the course usually adopted; which is, as soon as the racing season is over, to indulge, until the following spring reminds the jockey of the toil which he must undergo.

ON THE DOG.

BY H. D. RICHARDSON, S.E.R.P.S.S.

The varieties of dog may be resolved into two primitive stocks or original races, distinguished from each other by the development of their skull and a correspondent variance of form. These are mastiffs and greyhounds. The shepherd's dog, I am so far from conceiving to be positively a primitive dog, that it is the only one I would at all admit to have been produced by a cross from the wolf or fox: and it is a well known fact, that the Scotch drovers at present make use of this latter cross as a sheep-dog, and consider it much better than the pure dog, on the principle of "setting a thief to catch a thief."

The first class of primitive dogs we shall call

GREYHOUNDS.-These are characterized by their long and narrow heads, the parietal bones insensibly approaching each other, and the condyles of the lower jaw placed in a horizontal line with the upper cheek teeth. The primitive type of this class was most probably the great Irish wolf-dog, or the Highland deer-hound.

The second great class may be styled

MASTIFFS. These have their head and muzzle shortened and thickened, frontal sinuses expanded, condyle of lower jaw above the line of the upper cheek teeth. The type of this primitive race was, in all probability, the gigantic mastiff of the East, of which that of Thibet was a good type. These two dogs bear on their noble fronts an impress of antiquity of birth; and from them we can, without the smallest stretch of invention, trace the formation of the numerous varieties at present known. There is another class to which zoologists refer, not, however, as a primitive type, but as a mere arbitrary medium of description, viz.-those dogs whose heads are neither remarkable for their being truncated and broad, nor for elongation and narrowness, whose parietal bones do not approach each other, but on the contrary diverge sufficiently for the development of the cerebral cavity and forehead.

We have thus either three strongly-marked original types of the dog, or two original types and a mixed sort, which sprung almost immediately from a union between these two, giving rise to innumerable further crosses. I have already stated that I, until lately, conceived the whole three to have been of original creation, and necessarily so. I am now content to admit that there may have been

but two thus originally formed, and the third produced by the intermixture of these two: yet I will still adhere to the three as classes, in order to assist me in the following arrangement of my subject. The wild dogs I shall treat of separately, as I consider them likewise of original formation, and as forming a link between the dog and the wolf. So to my task.

WILD DOGS.-Under this head I propose to treat of such canines as live by depredations after the manner of wolves, and as exhibit no disposition to become subject to man, such as being tamed, will lose their tameness in the next generation unless equal pains be bestowed with the whelps, precisely as is the case with the wolves. Of these .we shall notice

I. THE DINGO, or AUSTRALIAN WILD DOG.-The dingo is a handsome sprightly animal, about two feet or twenty-two inches high, and about three feet long exclusive of the tail. His ears are erect, like those of the wolf and fox. His tail is bushy, but not, as some naturalists are pleased to assert, covered all round with bushy hair, like that of the fox. Neither is it correct to say that the dingo never carries his tail high or horizontally; for, in fact, he always does so, unless irritated, when his lowering of it is the very first signal of mischief coming, otherwise it is carried over his back somewhat as it is borne by the wild dog of China. There is a very fine specimen of this dog in the gardens of the Royal Zoological Society of Ireland, which I have taken much pains to watch, in order to become acquainted with his actual habits; and I do not, therefore, write from guess or hearsay.

There are two varieties of the dingo-a yellow and a black. Two very fine specimens of the latter and one of the former were till lately in the Zoological Gardens of Dublin.* In make and general appearance the yellow dingo is very like the wolf; but no one could look into his countenance without perceiving a marked difference of character. His face possesses little of that sly, treacherous, mistrustful aspect which characterises that of the wolf, and his manners display far more confidence and a less degree of disinclination to meet the advances of mankind. The black dingo is less in size than the yellow, and is very like the cross between dog and wolf. His colour is black and tan, like the English terrier. The habits of both dingos are much alike. Their main characteristics are excessive fierceness and daring, accompanied at the same time by considerable cunning. They hunt in packs, and do incredible mischief to the flocks of the settlers in the country of which they are natives. The dingo is remarkably tenacious of life, witness the following well-authenticated anecdote:

A gentleman was out one day hunting the kangaroo, when he chanced to meet with some dingos, one of which he shot, and having skinned it, threw the carcass aside and proceeded on his way. It happened, however, that he returned back by the same way about four hours afterwards, and not seeing the body of the slain dog where

*Phoenix Park.