"How is it," he asks, "that, in our younger days, we never heard of kennel lameness, or, indeed, of hounds being lame at all, unless from accident, or becoming shaken and infirm from not having been composed of that iron-bound material which the labours of a greyhound or a hound require? How is it, that, in our younger days, masters of hounds began the season with 50 or 60 couples, and, bating the casualties, left off at the end of it equally strong in their kennels, and able, perhaps, to make a valuable draft; whereas we now hear of one-half of the dogs in certain localities being disabled by disease, and some masters of hounds compelled to be stopped in their work until their kennels are replenished." Washing hounds when they come home after work must be injurious to them, although it has almost become the fashion of modern times. If they are not washed at all, and we believe it to be unnecessary, yet the kennels in which lameness has appeared should be strictly avoided. It should be on the day following and not in the evening of a hunting-day that washing should take place. Mr. Hodgson told Nimrod, that the Quorn Pack never had a case of kennel lameness until his late huntsman took to washing his hounds after hunting, and then he often had four or five couples ill from this cause. He deprecated even their access to water in the evening after hunting, and we believe that he was quite right in so doing. The tongue of the dog, with the aid of clean straw, is his best and safest instrument in cleansing his person; and, if he can be brought to his kennel with tolerably clean feet, as Mr. Foljambe enables him to be brought, he will never be long before he is comfortable in his bed, after his belly is filled. There is another mode, as a preventive of kennel lameness, which we have the best authority for saying deserves particular attention, and that is, the frequently turning hounds off their benches during the day, even if it were to the extent of every two hours throughout the entire day. We do not mean to deny the existence of a disease, which, being produced in the kennel, is properly termed kennel lameness. Some kennels are, no doubt, more unhealthy and prone to engender rheumatic affections than others; but, by proper management, and avoiding as much as possible all exciting causes, their effects may, at least, be very much lessened, if not entirely obviated. LORD FITZHARDINGE'S MANAGEMENT. Lord Fitzhardinge's opinion of the situation of the kennel and the management of the hounds, as given in the 'New Sporting Magazine', is somewhat different from that which has been just given. The following is the substance of it: [21]