Part 56

ἅρμενα τ’ ἀλλήλοισιν, ἐοικότα τ’ ἔξοχα φῦλα.

Then uniting the Arcadian with the Elean, the Cretan with the Pannonian, the Carian with the Thracian, the Tuscan with the Spartan, and the Sarmatian with the Iberian, he concludes with a preference of pure blood:

ὥδε μὲν εὖ κεράσειας· ἀτὰρ πολὺ φέρτατα πάντων φῦλα μένει μονόφυλα, τά τ’ ἔξοχα τεκμῄραντο ἄνδρες ἐπακτῆρες.

gens una tamen felicior unâ Nascitur ex specie.

Belin de Ballu in his “Animadversiones” has evidently mistaken Oppian’s meaning in the latter part of this citation. The poet alludes to an union of the qualities of individuals of the same variety of dog; and not, as supposed by the French critic, to breeding in and in, or proximity of blood, in the same family—a practice as degenerative in the canine race, if persevered in for a length of time, as the Stagirite has observed it to be in the human species. See Aristot. de Rhetoricâ L. +ii.+ c. 17. Brodæus very properly explains μονόφυλα by ἰδιόφυλα in his annotations. And Conrad Gesner, with his usual accuracy, says: “Præstantissimi quidem canes in suo quique genere μονόφυλοι sunt, id est, ex unius generis parentibus prognati: verùm superflua venatorum cura miscere etiam diversa genera, quæ quidem innumera sunt, adinvenit.”

Ipsa tamen generi sua cuique est maxima virtus. Et quamvis variis proles genitoribus orta Testeturque animos, et magnum robur avorum; Inque uno interdum geminetur pectore duplex Utilitas; tamen illa alieno protinùs usu Degenerat, semperque magis producit inertem Progeniem, et patriâ longè à virtute remotam.

Τὰ δὲ καταμήνια ταῖς κυσὶν ἑπτὰ ἡμέραις γίνεται· συμβαίνει δὲ ἅμα καὶ ἔπαρσις αἰδοίου· ἐν δὲ τῷ χρονῷ τουτῷ οὐ προσίενται ὀχείαν, ἀλλ’ ἐν ταῖς μετὰ ταύτας ἑπτὰ ἡμέραις· τὰς γὰρ πάσας δοκεῖ σκυζᾷν ἡμέρας τέτταρας καὶ δέκα ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολύ.

Dat Venus accessus, et blando fœdere jungit.

The son of Gryllus recommends (c. vii.) the same watchful delay to insure fruitful intercourse: ἄγειν δὲ καταπαυομένας, ἵνα θᾶττον ἐγκύμονες γίγνωνται, πρὸς κύνας ἀγαθούς. The term καταπαυομένας here signifies “when their heat is beginning to remit a little,” and not, as rendered by Blane, “in a quiet manner.”

Bis quinas tamen antè dies, accensus uterque In venerem, venere abstineant; sic plena libido Acrius exstimulat, viresque ad semina præbet. Hinc major soboles, atque inde valentior exit.

Ἀγαθὴ δὲ τῇ θηλεία ἡλικία, &c. Marvellous tales are on record of periods much later than the seventh year, in which bitches have given birth to numerous progenies; but Arrian has specified a limited time within which a greyhound bitch may be considered as being at the acme of her bodily powers, and likely to yield such a litter as will not disappoint the expectations of the Veltrarius. To Mr. Pope we are indebted, in his endeavour to reconcile with probability the age of the Homeric Argus,—

The dog whom fate had granted to behold His lord, when twenty tedious years had roll’d,—

for the almost incredible case of a gravid bitch of the age of twenty-two years. After which, we may well exclaim in the words of the Greek naturalist, οὔκουν οὐδὲ Ἄργος ὁ κύων μυθοποίημα ἦν, ὦ θεῖε Ὅμηρε, σὸν, οὐδὲ κόμπος ποιητικός!

Xenophon merely says that the dog and bitch should be ἀγαθοὶ, and the Faliscian adds that they be of tried spirit,

Et primum expertos animi, quæ gratia prima est, In venerem jungunt, &c.

for every longing dame select Some happy paramour; to him alone In leagues connubial join. Consider well His lineage; what his fathers did of old, Chiefs of the pack, &c.

Αἱ γὰρ ἐν τῷ ἐμφανεῖ ὁμιλίαι οὐ γόνιμοι. This ridiculous notion, though doubtfully advanced in the manual, is supported by many of the old Cynegetica.

Sed frustrà longus properat labor, abdita si non Altas in latebras, unique inclusa marito Fœmina, nec patitur veneris sub tempore mœchos Illa, neque emeritæ servat fastigia laudis. Primi complexus, dulcissima prima voluptas. Hunc veneri dedit impatiens natura furorem.

The credulous author of the Cynographia Curiosa adds to the absurdity of the notion by saying, “Si tum videantur canes, venationi inutiles parient,” borrowing the same from the Cynosophium, where such an opinion is said to be the result of long experience. See Cynosoph. c. +ii.+

κυΐσκεταί τε κύων ἐκ μιᾶς ὀχείας· δῆλον δὲ τοῦτο γίνεται μάλιστα ἐν τοῖς κλέπτουσι τὰς ὀχειάς· ἅπαξ γὰρ ἐπιβάντες πληροῦσι, says the Stagirite: and again he remarks, that the Spartan dog and bitch are more inclined to copulate after exercise, a fact well known to sportsmen: πονήσαντες γὰρ μᾶλλον δύνανται ὀχεύειν, ἢ ἀργοῦντες. (See Scaliger’s note on the passage, L. +vi.+ c. +xx.+) This circumstance is also noticed by Ælian and Julius Pollux. Indeed the author of the Onomasticon, in a passage that has escaped the observation of commentators, throws considerable light on the text, which is here rather obscure. See L. +v.+ c. +vi.+ 51. of the Onomasticon.

Nec priùs optatam in venerem dimitte volentes, Quàm rapido quassis cursu, quàm corpora multo Sole fatigatis vehementior ingruat æstus. Inde decem noctes, totidemque ex ordine luces Abde domi, cursusque omnes prohibere memento.

A greyhound bitch may be taken out coursing for ten days after having been warded, but not longer—“Da requiem gravidæ, solitosque remitte labores.” Walking exercise, however, should be continued till the period of parturition arrive.

“Il est prouvé qu’une lice couverte, qu’on laisse au chenil, s’engraisse et s’appésantit en cessant de travailler, et qu’en cet état elle fait ses chiens avec peine, et souvent même elle meurt dans l’opération”—“on la fait promener de tems en tems dehors, par un valet de chiens,” &c. &c.

The period of uterine gestation is in the Celtic greyhound the same as in other varieties of the canine tribe:

Mox cum se bina formârit lampade Phœbe Ex quo passa marem genitalia viscera turgent, Fœcundos aperit partus matura gravedo Continuò, largâque vides strepere omnia prole!

Conrad Gesner remarks: “observavi in canibus nostris nonnullas catellas gessisse uterum præcisè diebus 60, nonnullas uno insuper aut duobus. Peregrina leporaria nostra excellens tulit uterum diebus 63.”

Τὸν ἄῤῥενα μὴ ἐφίεναι ἐπὶ λαγών. This caution is unnecessary for modern coursers, who rarely use the same hound in the field and kennel, for coursing the hare, and supplying the pack with high-bred successors. But if the same dog be employed for both purposes, the interval specified for the restoration of his powers is not too long. The Cynosophium, however, suggests a shorter period of 30 days, during which nutritious food is to be administered, and then the stallion hound may be again taken out for sport.

Although the rule has its exceptions, (see Brodæus in Oppianum, p. 42.) Aristotle’s observation, that animals in general ὁρμᾶ πρὸς τὸν συνδυασμὸν in the vernal season, will be found correct.