History does not relate whether Francis halloed his hounds in Latin verse; but the seed dropped by Budé was not lost, and another scholar, Michelangelo Blando, the commentator on Aristotle and Hippocrates, took up the same subject as a second study. In a learned Latin treatise on hunting, Blando shows how important it is for the huntsmen to be men of literary culture; for their benefit he investigates every branch of canine lore from the earliest times: breeds, regimen, maladies, training—on all these points he admirably collects the various threads of tradition. Nor does he forget the lives of the most illustrious of hunters down to and including Francis I. Among these, naturally, he makes honourable mention of a number of noble ladies who were ardent devotees of the chase, and with whom the sport almost always meant a dedication of their virginity; for example, the fair Atalanta, who disdained marriage; Calixto, daughter of a king of Arcadia; Arethusa, daughter of the Centaur Hippochrome; Amimone, a Breton nymph, daughter of Danaus; and a thousand other vestals whom it is unnecessary to recall, says he, “being household words with all hunters worthy of the name.” After such an enumeration, one might indeed be tempted to believe that, for women at any rate, the chase elevates the soul and has platonic virtues. But, all this notwithstanding, the lady artists in charm did not think it deserved either encouragement or sympathy on their part. In what respect had this sport any moral efficacy? It had, on the contrary, the disadvantage of giving a woman a somewhat masculine appearance, of diluting in her all that constitutes the essence of platonic sweetness.[219] Riding to hounds was no longer indulged in, except by some few over-energetic and rather old-fashioned ladies like Margaret of Austria, who was so proud of her stuffed wolves’ heads; or Anne of France, a passionate and classical huntress, whom one of her faithful henchmen, the seneschal of Normandy, enthusiastically styles the “grand mistress” of this “glorious trade”; but whom he calls also its last representative. Anne hunted in the same way that she did everything; coldly and methodically she with her own eyes examined the trail, and gave the word to hark forward; then she set off with her dogs, and suddenly warming to the work, grew animated and vociferous, and smartly handled her hunting-spear. Such ways as these have caused her to be always wrongly judged, even by her closest friends, and have given her a reputation for mannishness, whereas in her heart of hearts she was infinitely feminine, and femininely philosophic.