Part 15

No part of a racing establishment requires stricter attention than the brood mares. They should be kept, during the winter, in a paddock well supplied with water; also with a roomy hovel, with two wide entrances, to prevent accidents. There should also be rollers up each side of the door-way, as foals are apt to have their hips knocked down in striking them, or by getting squeezed against them by the mares in passing in or out. Not more than two mares should be kept in one paddock.

In winter, brood mares should be fed with the best hay; and, if in low condition, should have cold bran mashes twice a day. When in foal, the greatest care should be taken that their food be of the sweetest nature; the olfactory organs of a mare, during the period of her gestation, being extremely sensitive, and mouldy hay or straw has frequently caused premature birth. Indeed, extraordinary as it may appear, abortion has been caused by a groom merely striking a mare on the nose with his hand, which proves that, during the time they are in foal, they cannot be kept too quiet, or free from danger or excitement of any sort. The smell of carrion, or of animals fresh slaughtered, should be carefully avoided; for it is very provoking to lose a fine foal, after the heavy expense incurred, by these apparently trifling circumstances, so easily guarded against.

Attention should be paid to the state of the bowels of a newly dropped foal. If a passage be not observed, the gut should be carefully emptied by the hand. About a month previous to foaling, mares should be fed, at least twice a day, with cold bran mashes, as also plentifully supplied with any forward succulent food—such as lucerne, tares, clover, &c., but the two first are best. It is desirable to have the mares foal as early as possible, and when the mare is barren, she may be covered as early in February as she will take the horse, and if stinted she will foal early in January—thereby gaining a considerable advantage over those foaled later in the year. For instance, a colt dropped in January is fifteen months old, when in racing chronology he only reckons for twelve. It must, however, be observed, that it is impossible to have mares to foal every year in the month of January, unless the mare were to take the horse every year in February, as her time of gestation is eleven months and some days. Consequently, if she were to be covered in January, she would foal (out of the year) in December, as was the case with the December filly.

When mares are near their time of foaling, they should be carefully watched, for they will always approach water at this time; and as they generally (though not invariably) foal standing up, the produce may thus be lost. Some mares should be watched from another cause, as they will kill their foals as soon as they are dropped. When a mare has foaled, she should have a pail full of warm gruel, and should live generously until there is grass for her. The colt should also be fed with oats (bruised) twice or three times a day, which it will begin to eat at three days old.

The covering season commences on the first of February. Mares should be tried by the teazer every ninth day until the end of the season, which terminates in July.

Those mares which have foaled will be in season on the third day after; but it is not advisable to put them to the horse until the ninth, when they will probably be stinted. A mare, with a foal at her foot, is quite as likely to stand to the horse, if not more so, than one which has never bred, or proved barren the previous season; as it is called “missed the horse,” though she might have bred the year before.

Various have been the measures resorted to, to stint mares to the horse, which have proved barren for several years, or perhaps never bred at all—such as bleeding, immersing in cold water, and putting them in motion after the horse has retired; but no great faith is to be placed in any of them. It said that opium has been administered with effect; but in the cases of Victoria and Echo, every possible means tried, proved abortive.

Perhaps it would be better that stallions which cover at a high price, should only be suffered to serve a certain number of mares, as in that case it would not be necessary to pamper them to that degree generally practised, to enable them to exceed their natural powers. I have no hesitation in saying, that, in the long run, their produce would be greater, and I reason thus:—A mare which has missed three or four seasons together, is put to an ass, and generally stands to him. Now whatever may be the supposed increased physical powers of this animal, the effect, in this instance, is principally to be attributed to the cool state of his blood.

It is usually the practice to keep stallions very full of flesh, perpetually crammed with corn, by which their blood must be in a constant state of fever, and many of them have died in consequence of this treatment. Eggs are also frequently given them in the covering season. Some years since, a person in Shropshire, who purchased a horse out of the north, called “Young Roscius,” at a considerable price, not taking the precaution of cracking the egg before he gave it to him, it got across his gullet and killed him. If, instead of having recourse to a common farrier, who attempted to force it down with the butt-end of a whip, he had sent for a veterinary surgeon, it might have been dissected out with the greatest ease and safety, and his horse’s life preserved. Stallions, at the end of the season, should be physicked and turned out into a paddock, with very little corn; but the first day they are turned out, great precaution is necessary. They should be walked out on that day from five o’clock in the morning until evening; for if turned into the paddock fresh from their stable, they would gallop about for hours; and some have been known to do so until they have dropped down dead. Early in November, they should be brought into the stable again, physicked, moderately fed at first; well cleaned, and exercised every day for two or three hours; and this plan should be continued until the commencement of the next covering season. The air and exercise, say an hour or two a day, at this time, would invigorate their bodies, and conduce to their general health. Grooms may object to this system; but it has reason on its side, which they have not always on theirs.—_Sporting Repository._

BROOK, _s._ A running water; a rivulet.

BROOM, _s._ A shrub; a besom, so called from the matter of which it is made.

BROTH, _s._ Liquor in which flesh is boiled.

BROWN, _a._ The name of a colour.

_For a rich fiery Brown._—Put down some _young fustic_, about six chips, boil your stuff in three or four quarts of water; this takes a long time to give out the dye. If your fur be very white, and free from black hairs, you may draw two shades of fine bright yellows from it; you should put the more fur on that account. Then put down five or six more chips and boil it on till you bring it to a very deep orange; lift out your fur, and if you have half a pound of it you must put down an ounce of black grain, or half an ounce to a quarter of a pound; boil it and put in your stuff, and boil on till you have a blood orange.—Lift out your stuff, put in three teaspoonfuls of brasil wood in powder, stir it up and put down your stuff, boil till it comes to a light fiery brown. If you see what brasil you have added does not bring it to that shade, add more, and when you are near it take out your stuff, and have prepared in another vessel half a tablespoonful of archill, by boiling it in water, put half a noggin of this liquor into your pot and boil your stuff in it, and then try your shade, as I think you must be near it. Put in a little stale urine, and if not dark enough put in a little salt of tartar, throw in your stuff and I think you have it. If you want it darker, repeat the same quantity of salt of tartar. If you wish you may have two shades from this very process, or by drawing the fur may get many fine shades of claret by using double the quantity of black grain and more archill. Be nice with the archill, as if you darken too much with it, you can never discharge it.

_Brown Varnish._—Rectified spirits of wine one quart, seed lac six ounces, dissolve the lac in the spirits two days and it is done, you must keep it the chief of the first day near the fire. This is the best of all varnishes, it must not be laid on any thing that is oiled.—_Ancient Recipes._

BROWSE, _v._ To eat branches or shrubs.

BRUISE, _v._ To crush or mangle with a heavy blow.

BRUISE, _s._ A hurt with something blunt and heavy.

BRUSH, _s._ An instrument for rubbing. The tail of a fox. “To get the brush,” in sporting parlance, means to be foremost rider at the death.

BRUSH, _v._ To sweep or rub with a brush; to strike with quickness; to fly over; to skim lightly.

BRUSHER, _s._ He that uses a brush. A horse liable to _speedy cut, &c._

BRUSHWOOD, _v._ Rough, shrubby thickets.

BUBO, _s._ The groin, from the bending of the thigh to the scrotum; all tumours in that part are called buboes.

BUCK, _s._ The male of the fallow deer; the male of rabbits, and other animals.

BUCK, _v._ To copulate as bucks and does.

BUCKBEAN, _s._ A plant, a sort of trefoil, intensely bitter; its properties are tonic, diuretic, and purgative.

BUCKLE, _s._ A link of metal, with a tongue or catch, made to fasten one thing to another. BUCKLE, _v._ To fasten with a buckle.

BUCKRAM, _s._ A sort of strong linen cloth, stiffened with gum.

BUD, _s._ The first shoot of a flower; a germ.

BUD, _v._ To put forth young shoots or germs.

BUFF, _s._ Leather prepared from the skin of the buffalo, used for waist-belts, pouches, &c.; a colour.

_To dye light shades of Buff, and other colours._—To assist in mixing, the drakes are said to be dyed by ivy and laurel alone; I do not vouch for their being fast and yet they may.

_For Buffs._—Get some rich common fustic chips, put down three or four of them in three or four quarts of water with your stuff, and when it comes to a pale yellow, put in some pale madder, by a teaspoonful at a time, and you have, by boiling a sufficient length of time, a light buff. Boil on and put in more madder, and you will have a deeper; if your yellow is too faint put in more fustic, half an hour before your next addition of madder. By using young fustic chips and madder in the same way, you will get nice rich colours, something between a rich cinnamon and a light brick red.—_Old Recipe._

BULL, _s._ The male of black cattle; a blunder.

BULLBAITING, _s._ The sport of baiting bulls with dogs.

BULL-DOG (_Canis Molossus_), _s._ A dog of particular form, remarkable for his courage.

The bull-dog is low in stature, deep-chested, and strongly made about the shoulders and thighs, the muscles of both of which are extremely developed. His head is broad, his nose short, and the under jaw projects beyond the upper, which gives him a fierce and disagreeable aspect. His eyes are distant and prominent, and have a peculiar suspicious-like leer, which, with the distension of his nostrils, gives him also a contemptuous look; and from his teeth being always seen, he has the constant appearance of grinning, while he is perfectly placid. He is the most ferocious and unrelenting of the canine tribe, and may be considered courageous beyond every other creature in the world, for he will attack any animal, whatever be his magnitude.

The internal changes which determine the external characters of this dog, consist in a great development of the frontal sinuses, a development which elevates the bones of the forehead above the nose, and draws the cerebral cavity in the same direction.

But the most important quality, and that, perhaps, which causes all the others, although we cannot perceive the connexion, is the diminution of the brain. The cerebral capacity of the bull-dog is sensibly smaller than in any other race; and it is doubtless to the decrease of the encephalon that we must attribute its inferiority to all others in every thing relating to intelligence. The bull-dog is scarcely capable of any education, and is fitted for nothing but combat and ferocity.

This animal takes his name from his having been employed, in former times, in assaulting the bull, and he is used for the same purpose at the present day, in those districts where this brutal amusement is still practised.

Nothing can exceed the fury with which the bull-dog falls upon all other animals, and the invincible obstinacy with which he maintains his hold. In attacking the bull, he always assails him in front, and generally fastens upon his lip, tongue, or eye, where he holds and hangs on, in spite of the most desperate efforts of the other to free himself from his antagonist, which affords ample proof of the amazing strength and power of this animal.

Whenever a bull-dog attacks any of the extremities of the body, it is invariably considered a mark of his degeneracy from the original purity of blood. Puppies will assail a bull, and thereby give a decided proof of their breed, when only six months old; and, if permitted, will rather suffer themselves to be destroyed than relinquish the contest.

Although this trial is sometimes made with the whelps of a particular litter, to demonstrate the purity of their descent, and to prove that there has been no improper cross by which the future fame of their posterity may be affected, yet they are seldom entered in a regular ring until from fifteen to eighteen months old. But their ligaments cannot be considered as at their full strength until they are at least two years old. Indeed, amateurs say, that they are not at their prime until they have attained four or five years of age.

The bull-dog is admitted by naturalists to be one of the original and peculiar races of Britain, and may be ranked, in point of originality, with the shepherd’s dog and Irish greyhound. In various districts of England this breed is still preserved in its native purity, by that class of people who delight in bullbaiting and fighting of dogs; both of which amusements, alike inhuman, are now happily on the decline.—_Brown._

BULL-HEAD, _s._ The name of a fish.

The bull-head seldom exceeds the length of three inches and a half; the head is large, broad, flat, and thin at its circumference, being well adapted for insinuating itself under stones; on the middle part of the covers of the gills is a small crooked spine turning inwards; the eyes are very small, the irides yellow; the body grows slender towards the tail, and is very smooth; the colour is as disagreeable as its form, being dusky, mixed with a dirty yellow; the belly whitish. They are found all the summer in holes, among mud and gravel, and among weeds and flat stones in clear water, where they may be seen sunning themselves in a hot day; put the hook, with a small red worm, before them, and they will instantly take it. Notwithstanding the disgust which the form of the bull-head creates, the largest, when the heads are cut off, are very delicious eating; they are also good baits for other fish. Some anglers think them, when their gill-fins are cut away, preferable to the minnow.—_Daniel._

BULL TERRIER (_Canis Pugilis_), _s._

This variety, which has now assumed a fixed character, as its name implies, was produced by a cross between the bull-dog and terrier, and this variety proves to be a handsomer dog than either of its progenitors. It is a sprightly and showy animal, and even better adapted for mischievous sport than either of the above dogs. He is airy and pleasant tempered, but possesses great fierceness when his energies are called into action.

The full-sized bull terrier is larger than either of his original parents, from which we are inclined to think he has a dash of the mastiff in him. He has rather a large square head, short neck, deep chest, and very strong legs. He possesses great strength of jaw, and draws a badger with much ease. He is all colours, and often white, with large black or brown patches on different parts of his body. His hair is short and stiff.

This variety has risen into great reputation with gentlemen of the fancy, and consequently good ones sell for a high price. Bull terriers are to be had of every colour in the metropolis—and of late years, dealing in these and other dogs has become a regular trade.—_Brown, &c._

BULL TROUT, BULGER, or SCARF, _s._

This species migrates, like the salmon, into several of our rivers; they begin to run up the rivers in May, and are most plentiful in September and October, although the flesh is not then so good (on account of their spawning) as in July and August; when boiled, it is of a pale red, and well flavoured, but drier than that of the salmon. Mr. Pennant has described one taken in June, 1769, in the Tweed below Berwick.

The shape was thicker than the common trout; the irides silver, and the head thick, smooth, and dusky, with a gloss of blue and green; the back of the same colour, growing fainter towards the lateral line, which is straight; and the sides, as far as this line, are marked with large irregular-shaped spots of black; the sides beneath the line and the belly are white; the tail is broad and even at the end; the weight was three pounds two ounces.

The bull have the same haunts as the salmon trout, and are sometimes met with in gentle shallow streams, running between and over rocks and stones, and are also found about weirs, made across rivers. The baits and tackle should be the same as for the salmon trout.—_Daniel._

BUMP, _s._ A swelling, a protuberance.

BUMPER, _s._ A cup filled.

BUNTING, (_Emberiza miliaria_, LINN.; _Le Proyer_, BUFF.) _s._ The name of a bird.

The principal difference between this kind and that of the passerine order, consists in the formation of the bill, which in the bunting is of a very singular construction.

The two mandibles are movable, and the edges of each bend inwards; the opening of the mouth is not in a straight line as in other birds, but at the base, the junction is formed by an obtuse angle in the lower mandible, nearly one-third of its length, which is received by a corresponding angle in the upper one; in the latter there is a strong knob, of great use in breaking the harder kinds of seeds and kernels, on which it feeds. The tongue is narrow, and tapers to a point like a toothpick; the first joint of the outer toe is joined to that of the middle one.—_Bewick._

BUOY, _s._ A piece of cork or wood tied to a weight. Dog or sheep skins prepared with a coating of tar and tallow, are used for suspending spellits and herring nets—on the western and southern coasts of Ireland they are called _puckawns_.

BUOY, _v._ To keep afloat.

BUOYANCY, _s._ The quality of floating.

BUR, _s._ A rough head of a plant.

BURBOT, _s._ A fish full of prickles.

BURN, _v._ To consume with fire; to wound with fire.

BURNISH, _v._ To polish.

BURNISHER, _s._ The person that burnishes or polishes; the tool used—it is commonly a dog’s tooth set in a stick.

BURROW, _s._ Holes made in the ground by rabbits.

BURROW, _v._ To mine as conies or rabbits.

BURST, _v._ To break suddenly.

BURST, _s._ A cry of hounds.

BURT, _s._ A flat fish of the turbot kind.

BUSH, _s._ A thick shrub.

BUSHEL, _s._ A measure containing eight gallons; a strike.

BUSHY, _a._ Thick; full of small branches; full of bushes.

BUSS, _s._ A vessel for fishing—a herring boat.

BUSTARD, (_Otis Tarda_, LINN.; _L’Outarde_, _Buff._)

_Great Bustard._—This very singular bird, which is the largest of our land birds, is about four feet long, and weighs from twenty-five to thirty pounds; its characters are peculiar, and with such as connect it with birds of the gallinaceous kind, it has others which seem to belong to the ostrich and the cassowary. Its bill is strong, and rather convex: its eyes red; on each side of the lower bill there is a tuft of feathers about nine inches long; its head and neck are ash-coloured. In the one described by Edwards there are on each side of the neck two naked spots, of a violet colour, but which appeared to be covered with feathers when the neck was much extended. The back is barred transversely with black and bright rust-colour on a pale reddish ground; the quills are black, the belly white; the tail consists of twenty feathers; the middle ones are rust-colour, barred with black; those on each side are white, with a bar or two of black near the ends; the legs are long, naked above the knees, and dusky; it has no hind toe, its nails are short, strong, and convex both above and below; the bottom of the foot is furnished with a callous prominence, which serves instead a heel. The female is not much more than half the size of the male: the top of her head is of a deep orange, the rest of the head brown; her colours are not so bright as those of the male, and she has no tuft on each side of the head. There is likewise another very essential difference between the male and the female: the former is furnished with a sack or pouch, situated in the forepart of the neck, and capable of containing about two quarts; the entrance to it is immediately under the tongue. This singular reservoir was first discovered by Dr. Douglas, who supposes that the bird fills it with water as a supply in the midst of those dreary plains where it is accustomed to wander. It likewise makes a farther use of it in defending itself against the attacks of birds of prey. On such occasions, it throws out the water with such violence, as not unfrequently to baffle the pursuit of its enemy.

Bustards were formerly more common in this island than at present; they are now found only in the open counties of the south and east, in the plains of Wiltshire, Dorsetshire, and in some parts of Yorkshire; they were formerly met with in Scotland, but are now supposed to be extinct there. They are slow in taking wing, but run with great rapidity, and when young are sometimes taken with grey-hounds, which pursue them with great avidity: their chase is said to afford excellent diversion. The great bustard is granivorous, but feeds chiefly on herbs of various kinds, it is also fond of those worms which are seen to come out of the ground in great numbers before sun-rise in the summer; in winter, it frequently feeds on the bark of trees; like the ostrich, it swallows small stones, bits of metal, and the like. The female builds no nest, but making a hole in the ground drops two eggs, about the size of those of a goose, of a pale olive brown, with dark spots. She sometimes leaves her eggs in quest of food; and if during her absence, any one should handle, or even breathe upon them, she immediately abandons them.

Bustards are found in various parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa; but have not hitherto been discovered on the new continent.

The Little Bustard, (_Otis Tetrax_, LINN. _La Petite Outarde_, BUFF.) is in length only seventeen inches. The bill is pale brown; irides red; the top of the head is black, spotted with pale rust colour; the sides of the head, the chin, and throat, are of a reddish white, marked with a few dark spots; the whole neck is black, encircled with an irregular band of white near the top and bottom; the back and wings are rust colour, mottled with brown, and crossed with fine irregular black lines, the under parts of the body, and outer edges of the wings, are white: the tail consists of eighteen feathers; the middle ones are tawny, barred with black, the others are white marked with a few irregular bands of black, the legs are grey. The female is smaller, and has not the black collar on the neck; in other respects she nearly resembles the male.