old purulent ulcers; an incongruous diet; corrupted bile lying in the firft paffages; want of due reft; violent tenfions of the nervous parts; inflammations, tumours, abfceffes, wounds, draftic purges; fudden cold after violent heat. Thefe caufes will produce a great variety of fevers in horfes, as well as men; but becaufe, in the former, we can only difcover the general fymptoms, they cannot be reduced to the fame claffes as in the latter. A fever, properly fpeaking, does not confift merely in an accelerated pulfe, or a more frequent beating of the heart; because this may happen from hard riding, or any thing else that puts the blood and fpirits into a commotion. That only can be called a fever, which proceeds from internal caufes, and is attended with coldness of the external parts. In men, there is generally a fhivering; and fo there is probably in horfes, though it is vital; for then the matter which caufes the fever is in time corrected, difcuffed, and thrown out of the body, fo that at length the fever ceafes. Therefore, fince nature alone is often fufficient to throw off a fever, we must take care not to disturb her falutary affiftance, when the difeife tends to folution; for then no medicines should be given, but fuch as are proper to affift the efforts of nature, in correcting, refolving, and at length expelling, the morbific matter. This is beft done by diluents, humectants, temperants, aperients, ftrengtheners, and nitrous medicines. (To be continued.) ON HUNTING. LETTER XXVII. feldom or never taken notice of, To the EDITORS of the SPORTING because it can hardly be difcovered till the difeafe is confirmed. A fever has two motions; the one from the circumference to the center, or from the external parts to the internals, the heart and lungs: on the contrary, the other is from the center to the circumference. The first is attended with low fymptoms, and the fecond with thofe that are violent. When a horfe dies of a fever, it is always in its low ftate; becaufe, when the blood is driven inwardly, by the fpafms of the external parts, the heart, lungs, and brain, are oppreffed by its quantity; and, not being able to return it back, they are greatly debilitated thereby.But the other motion, by which the blood is fent from the internal parts to the circumference, through the fmall vesels, is falutary and MAGAZINE. GENTLEMEN, AGREEABLY to promife, in my laft, I fhall now tell you, what my objections to bag-foxes are:-The fcent of them is different from that of other foxes: it is too good, and makes hounds idle; befides, in the manner in which they generally are turned out, it makes hounds very wild. They feldom fail to know what you are going about, before you begin; and, if often ufed to hunt bag-foxes, will become riotous enough to run any thing. A fox that has been confined long in a small place, and carried out afterwards in a fack, many miles perhaps, his own ordure hanging. about him, muft needs ftink extravagantly. You are alfo to add to this account, that he most proba bly wind-fuch fportfmen, there- being on a vifit to a friend of his bly is weakened for want of his natural food, and ufual exercise; his fpirit broken by defpair, and his limbs fiffened by confinement; he then is turned out in open ground, without any point to go to: he runs down the wind, it is true; but he is fo much at a lofs all the while, that he lofes a deal of time in not knowing what to do; while the hounds, who have no occafion to hunt, purfue as clofely, as if they were tied to him. "I remember once," fays Mr. Beckford, in his Thoughts upon Hunting, "to have hunted a bag-fox with a gentleman who, not thinking thefe advantages enough, poured a whole bottle of annifeed on the fox's back. I cannot say that I could have hunted the fox, but I affure you I could very easily bave hunted the annifeed." Is it to be expected that the fame hounds will have patience to hunt a cold fcent the next day over greafy fallows, through flocks of theep, or on ftony roads? However capable they may be of doing it, I fhould much doubt their giving themfelves the trouble. If, notwith-You will hardly believe me, when ftanding thefe objections, you ftill choose to turn one out, turn him into a small cover, give him what time you judge neceffary, and lay on your hounds as quietly as you can; and, if it be poffible, let them think they find him.-If you turn out a fox for blood, I fhould, in that cafe prefer the turning him into a large cover, first drawing it well, to prevent a change. The hounds fhould then find him themselves; and the fooner he is killed, the better. Fifteen or twenty minutes is as long as I fhould ever wish a bag-fox to run, that is defigned for blood:-the hounds fhould then go home. Bag-foxes always run down the I have known a pack of hounds to run a fox to ground immediately after they had found him; he was digged and turned out again; and that the operation of | turning him out might be better performed, the mafter of the hounds undertook it himself. I tell you, that he forgot the place where he turned him out, and they never once could hit upon the fcent. If you breed up cubs, you will find a fox-court neceffary: they fhould be kept there till they are large enough to take care of themselves. It ought to be open at the top, and walled in; I need not tell you that it must be every way well fecured, and particularly the floor of it, which must be either bricked or paved. A few boards fitted to the corners will alfo be of use to fhelter and to hide them. Foxes ought to be kept very clean, and have plenty of fresh water; birds and rabbits are their best food'; horse-flesh might might give them the mange, for they are fubject to this diforder. -I remember a remarkable inftance of it. Going out to course, I met the whipper-in returning from exercifing his horfes, and afked him if he had found any hares? No, Sir, he replied, but I have caught a fox.-I faw him funning himself under a hedge, and finding he could not run, I drove him up into a corner, got off my horse, and took him up, but he is fince dead.-I found him at the place he directed me to, and he was indeed a curiofity.-He had not a fingle hair on his brush, and very few on his body. I have kept foxes too, long; I alfo have turned out too young. The fafeft way, I believe, will be to avoid either extreme. When cubs are bred in an earth near you, if you add two or three to the number, it is not improbable that the old fox will take care of them. Of this you may be certain; that if they live, they will be good foxes; for the others will fhew them the country. Thofe which you turn into an earth, fhould be regularly fed. If they fhould be once neglected, it is probable they will forfake the place, wander away, and die for want of food. When the cubs. leave the earth, (which they may foon do) your game-keeper fhould throw food for them in parts of the cover where it may be most eafy for them to find it; and when he knows their haunt, he fhould continue to feed them there. Nothing deftroys fo much the breed of foxes, as buying them to turn out, unless care be taken of them afterwards. In an extenfive country, probably it may not be all equally good; it may be worth your while therefore to remove fome of the cubs, from one part of it into the other: it is what I fre quently do myself, and find it anfwer. Though turned-out foxes may fometimes anfwer the purpose of entering your hounds, yet they feldom fhew any diverfion; few of those I have turned into my woods, have I ever feen again: befides, the turning out of foxes, and alarming the neighbourhood, may haften their deftruction.— Foxes will be plentiful enough, where traps are not fet to destroy them-fhould they do any injury to the farmer, make fatisfaction for it encourage the neighbouring gamekeepers to preferve them by paying them handfomely for every litter of cubs that they take care of for you : if you act in this manner, you may not have occafion to turn any out. A fox-court is of great ufe: it fhould be airy, or it is not adviseable to keep them long in it. I turned out, one year, ten brace of cubs; most of which, by being kept till they were tainted before they were turned out, were found dead in the covers, with scarcely any hair upon them; whilst a brace, which had made their escape by making a hole in the fack in which they were brought, lived, and fhewed excellent fport. Should the cubs be large, you may turn them out immediately: a large earth will be best for that purpofe, where they ought to be regularly fed with rabbits, birds, or fheeps henges, which ever can be most conveniently procured. When a fox is once tainted; he never recovers. The weather being remarkably hot, thofe which I kept in my fox-court, (and it, at that tine, was a very close one) all died, one after the other, of the fame diforder. I must now take my leave, and remain, Your's, &c. ACASTUS. EXTRAORDINAY. Extraordinary Sporting Performances. EXTRAORDINARY SPORTING PERFORMANCES. (Continued from page 148). 1790. ANUARY 20th, a man aged upwards of fifty, ftarted from Walmore's, the Prince's Head, at Windsor, to run to Hyde-parkcorner, and back, (forty-four miles and a quarter) for a hundred guineas, in feven hours and a quarter, which he compleated with much apparent eafe. Great bets were depending on this race, and many gentlemen of the turf attended. February 27th, a very uncommon circumftance occurred, in the neighbourhood of Windfor, during the royal chace. His Majefty was out with the ftaghounds in purfuit of a ftag, Lord Berkeley's fox-hounds after a fox, and the King's harriers in chace of a hare. The three packs met together in a field, and the confequence was, that all the fport was put a stop to. The ftag, the fox, and hare, each efcaped, and the packs all mingled together in confufion. May 12th, a grand match at cricket, for one thousand guineas, was played in Lord's ground, Marybone, by twenty-two picked men of All England; there were eleven right-handed players, against the fame number of felect left-handed men. 'It was decided in favour of the left hands, by thirty-nine notches. 14th, Two journeymen fhoemakers, in Liverpool, of the names of Griffiths and Wrighten, agreed, for a wager, to try which was the neatest and most expeditious workman; for which purpofe, they fet-to at five o'clock in the morning, and continued with little intermiffion until eight 183 in the evening, during which time the former made, in a neat and workman-like manner, thirteen pair, and an odd one, of children's pumps; the latter made twelve pair. It is fuppofed to be the greatest performance ever known, by any of the gentle craft. June 7th, a common hack horfe, the property of Mr. Grimfhaw, of Birmingham, (upon the turnpike road leading from thence to Hales Owen,) trotted three miles in twelve minutes and fifteen feconds, walked three in thirtyeight minutes and fifteen feconds, and galloped three miles in eight minutes and twenty feconds, being in the whole one minute and ten feconds under the hour, in which time it was undertaken he should perform the whole, for a wager of twenty guineas. July ift, a very corpulent man ran, for a wager of twenty pounds, from a public houfe at Highgate, to the Horfe -Guards, which is computed to be fix miles. He was allowed forty minutes to perform it in, but did it in thirty-four minutes. Auguft 7th, a gentleman from Vermont, in America, rode, for a wager of two hundred guineas, (on the road between Prefcot and Warrington, in Lancashire,) 110 miles, in feven hours and a half. He was allowed eight hours to perform this equefirian feat, but compleated it, with eafe, thirty minutes under the time. He had feven horses for the purpose. September 2d, Mr. John Thong and Mr. John Jordain, of Bedford, walked from Bedford to Milton, and back, for a wager of ten guineas. Notwithftauding Thong carried four ftone, two pounds, in a pad made for the purpofe, in order to make his weight 184 Obfervations upon Hunting, weight equal to Jordain's, he won 21ft, A huntfman, at Chefter, for a wager of twenty guineas, ran bare-footed, on the London road, one mile in four minutes thirtynine feconds. The pedeftrian exertions, of this huntsman, were faid to be, for eight or ten miles, equal to the best horfe that could be brought against him. 29th, A famous failing match, for one hundred guineas, was de cided, round the Isle of Wight, between Captain Lloyd, of the 7th dragoons, and Captain Gutteridge, of Briftol. The latter backed his own boat, called the Nonpareil, of Bristol, (which had won two or three prizes there,) against a prime failing boat from Itchingferry; this veffel was floop-rigged, decked, and about twelve tons burthen. Captain Gutteridge's was only halfdecked, eight tons burthen, and fchooner rigged. They started from Cowes at half paft fix in the morning, failing to the eastward round by Spithead and St. Helen's. The floop weathered the Needles at the western extremity of the island feven minutes and a half before the fchooner; when the man at the helm, ftretching out to the oppo fite hore to avoid the force of the tide, Captain Gutteridge, by keeping fnugly along the fhore, got a-head, and came in exactly three minutes and a half before the floop, to the great mortification and difappointment of the knowing ones. The island is fixty miles round, which they failed in eleven hours and forty minutes. (To be continued.) If we fearch into human nature, we find, that nothing fo much thews the nobleness of the foul, as that its felicity confifts in action. Man has fuch an active principle in him, that he will find out fomething to employ himself upon, let his ftate of life be whatever it may. "I have heard of a gentleman,” fays the Spectator, "who was under clofe confinement in the baftille many years, during which time he amufed himfelf with fcattering a few fmall pins about his chamber, gathering them up again, and placing them in different figures, on the arm of a great chair. He often told his friends afterwards, that unexercife, he verily believed he lefs he had found out this piece of fhould have loft his fenfes." As to my own part, I certainly believe it to be highly neceffary that the mind of man fhould be constantly employed in fome manner or other; those whom affluence has rendered independent, have recourfe to various means of employment: fome to charitable purfuits, others make national affairs their chief ftudy; the nature and principles of the heavenly |