“As the quality of the food depends in a very great degree upon the manner in which it is prepared, that becomes a subject worthy of considerable attention. It is a practice in many kennels to boil the flesh to a most unnecessary and prejudicial extent, but it is a custom which cannot be too strongly objected to. Flesh over-boiled is divested of its nutritive properties in a very great degree. It may be remarked by some, those who are advocates for excessive boiling, that if the nutritive properties are extracted from the flesh, they are contained in the broth, and _that_ broth being given to the hounds, the nutritious principles are still preserved--an argument which I can by no means agree to. “Like man, the hound is found to thrive best upon food composed of flesh and grain combined, consequently a comparison between the two may with propriety be introduced. When a man undergoes the ordeal of training for an athletic engagement, the animal food which he partakes of is only subject to the process of cooking in a moderate degree; overdone meat is studiously avoided. To the valetudinarian broth is prescribed as affording light nourishment with a moderate expenditure of the powers of digestion, but is never called in aid to form a principal portion of the aliment for the human subject at a time when great exertion is required. It is always found that broth creates thirst with us, and there is no doubt it has the same effect on the hound when given to a great extent, more especially when made very strong. “I must observe, that I am by no means about to recommend the disuse of broth in the kennel; but I wish to point out the propriety of giving it in moderate quantities, and of depending upon the flesh which is given for containing the bulk of nourishment, and giving it in that state when it contains the greatest quantity. It is an impression with some huntsmen, that by boiling the flesh to an excessive degree, the bad qualities are extracted--that is to say, if the horse had any disease about him, that the humours would be extracted from the flesh; but then it must be remembered that they would be contained in the broth, in which state they would be quite as injurious, or perhaps more so. “At the time when an animal is performing great exertion, it is essentially requisite that his stomach should contain but a small quantity of food, but that food should be of a nutritious character and easy of digestion. The practice that I would recommend, and it is one borne out by the reasons already assigned, as well as by experiment, is, not to give hounds any broth at all in their food _on the day before_ hunting.