Part 71

_Colour of Pointers._—Respecting the colour of pointers (as before observed), a great deal depends entirely on fancy, but that most esteemed is the liver and white, although there are as good dogs of every other colour, indeed there is hardly a colour but some reason may be assigned for its being either good or bad. A white dog is to be preferred on two accounts; the first is, being all white, he is void of any thing phlegmatic in his constitution, which does not hinder him from retaining the lesson he has been taught, and prevent his being obedient; besides, he has always a good nose: secondly, in grouse shooting, he can be discerned at any distance, whereas a brown one cannot. A white pointer, if good, is a treasure to a keen sportsman. Pointers of lemon, or setters of a red or chestnut colour, are always the most difficult to be brought to obedience, by reason of the bilious humour which prevails in them, and which causes this irregularity. The white pointer is full of stratagems and cunning, and is not so easily tired as dogs of the lemon colour, which are very giddy and impatient, as choler is the most predominant humour in them it in some measure accounts for their being so; they are very uneasy under correction, and are certainly more subject to diseases than any other dogs. Pointers of a brown colour are generally good ones; but one great objection to this colour is, they are difficult to be seen on a mountain, and are sometimes lost, which gives the sportsman a vast deal of trouble before he can discover them; but let any sportsman be asked, if he has not remarked that a brown-coloured dog will bring him closer to game than any other, by reason that they are not so easily perceived by the birds or game, as one of a white or any other colour. The compiler, from many years’ experience, is confident a sportsman will get more shots with a brown dog than one of any other colour, and has found him very useful when birds become shy, and the season is far advanced.—_Thornhill._

POISON, _s._ That which destroys or injures life by a small quantity, and by means not obvious to the senses, venom.

Corrosive sublimate, or oxymuriate of quicksilver, is a most deadly and unmanageable poison to dogs, in doses as small even as five or six grains. Its effects are observed soon after it is taken, by the distress of the animal, by his frequent retchings, insatiable thirst, panting, and anxiety for a cool situation. The mouth becomes swollen; if the dose has been large, it appears ulcerated also, and emits a very fœtid odour, which circumstance forms a very strong characteristic, both with regard to the animal’s having been poisoned, and also to the article employed for the purpose. As the symptoms advance the retchings are tinged with blood; the stools become liquid and bloody also; the heart beats faintly, but with rapidity; the extremities become cold; violent tremblings, paralysis, or convulsions follow, and death relieves the sufferer. On examination of the body afterwards, the whole alimentary canal, beginning at the mouth and proceeding backwards, exhibits marks of the corrosive nature of the matter taken. The stomach, on being opened, will appear covered with highly inflamed patches, and the villous folds of its inner and rugose surface will present gangrenous and ulcerated spots, and a ready separation of the mucous from the muscular coat, with blood often suffused between them; which circumstances only take place when a most acrid poison has been swallowed. The intestines also show appearances of great inflammation, particularly of their inner surface, which will be found sprinkled with gangrenous specks, and, moreover, frequently filled with a thick bloody mucus. Such are the usual morbid appearances; but satisfactorily to detect the presence of a poison, and the immediate nature of it, some of the liquid contents of the stomach and bowels, both before and after death, should be saved, and undergo a rigid chemical analysis. In general cases the addition of potash to some of these liquid contents will occasion a light yellow precipitate when corrosive sublimate has been the poisonous agent; but a practical chemist will employ many other tests.

The medical treatment to be pursued in these cases consists in both endeavouring to envelope and to neutralise the acrid matter: the former may be attempted by means of a glairy fluid, for which purpose the whites of eggs have proved the most effectual remedies, beaten into a liquid, given in large quantities, and repeated as often as they have been ejected; when these are not immediately at hand, milk may be substituted. Mild clysters should also be thrown up. When the stomach is somewhat appeased, give an opiate and castor oil. Large doses of soap, dissolved in water, have been recommended as a counter poison to corrosive minerals, or their preparations, and, in the absence of eggs, should be tried.

_Arsenic._—This powerful oxide is often given to dogs, and not unfrequently they find it for themselves in a state of mixture with other matters placed to poison rats. The effects produced by it resemble those occasioned by corrosive sublimate, except that, although they prove equally fatal, they are not apparently so intense. The mouth, likewise, is not usually affected, in an equal degree, by this poison as by the other. Dissection, also, detects similar morbid appearances to those above detailed; but, unless a very large dose has been taken, there is not such complete lesion of the coats of the stomach and intestines, but the gangrenous spots and the excess of inflammation are fully sufficient to detect the disorganising action of a mineral poison. Instead of subjecting the liquid contents of the stomach and bowels to the action of potash, as directed when corrosive sublimate is looked for, it is usual to detect arsenic by applying the blue ammoniacal sulphate of copper, which will produce a lively green if arsenic is present. A red hot iron will also occasion these contents to give out a garlic-like smell under similar circumstances.

The treatment proper, in cases of arsenical poisoning, is to give sugar dissolved in milk, in considerable quantities, until it may be supposed that all the poison is evacuated from the stomach, when a similar treatment is to be pursued to that before recommended.

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In speaking of poisons White makes the following curious remark.—I once gave two drachms of stavesacre to a glandered horse; he died in great pain the following night. It is probable that more horses have been killed by aloes, than by any other vegetable preparation. That is to say, by strong physic, or by neglecting the horse during its operation. The best antidote in this case, is gruel made of arrow-root or fine wheat flour. The animal poisons are the stings of venomous reptiles, for which stimulating embrocations seem to be better remedies than fomentations. The matter which flows from the nose of a glandered horse is a strong poison, whether applied to a recent scratch in the skin, or swallowed with food or water. The saliva of a mad dog is a dreadful poison to man, and to all animals.—_Blaine_—_White._

POISON, _v._ To infect with poison; to injure, or kill by poison given; to taint.

POISONOUS, _a._ Venomous, having the qualities of poison.

POLE, _s._ A long staff; a tall piece of timber erected; a measure of length containing five yards and a half; an instrument of measuring.

POLEAXE, _s._ An axe fixed to a long pole.

POLECAT, _s._ The fitchew; it is of the weasel tribe, and emits a most fetid smell.

This animal is known by various names or local appellations. In some parts of the country it is called a fitchet, in others a foumart, in others again a fillemark. The polecat is larger than the ferret, which, however, it very much resembles in appearance and disposition. But, according to the accounts which have been given us by naturalists, there are, it seems, internal differences which distinctly mark these two animals: the polecat has but fourteen ribs; whereas the ferret has fifteen; and it also wants one of the breast bones which is found in the ferret. The ferret is more slender and elongated than the polecat, and has also a more pointed or sharper snout. It is, for the most part, of a deep chocolate colour; it is white about the mouth; the ears are short, rounded, and tipped with white; a little beyond the corners of the mouth a stripe commences, which runs backward, partly white and partly yellow. Its hair is of two sorts, the long and the furry, and the two kinds are of different colours: the longer is black, and the shorter a dull or dirty yellow, which produces the general chocolate colour already mentioned; the feet and tail are blacker than any other parts: the claws are white underneath and brown above; and its tail is about two inches and a half long.

The polecat, like the fox, avoids as much as possible the human countenance; and, like the fox too, possesses the most undaunted courage. However, in comparing these two animals, though they happen to agree in the two particulars just mentioned, yet they are enemies to each other: or, in other words, the fox will not fail to kill the polecat whenever they meet; in fact, the fox may be regarded as the unrelenting enemy of all the smaller vermin. Reynard will kill and eat the wild cat, or any other cat which might happen to come in his way; as well as the polecat, the weasel, the stoat, the rat, &c.

The polecat evinces an insatiate thirst for blood, and is very destructive to all kinds of young game; and if it is not openly so to that which is full grown, it is because it is not so easily caught: it will surprise hares on their seats, will seize partridges or pheasants on the nest; and is incredibly destructive in a rabbit warren: it will, like all the other animals of the weasel tribe, kill much more than it can devour; in fact, so fond are these animals of sucking the blood of their victims, that, in a place like a rabbit warren, or wherever their food is presented in such abundance, the polecat (and the same of the weasel and stoat) would continue destroying, if undisturbed, merely for the sake of the blood.

The polecat is particularly destructive among pigeons, when it happens to get into a dove-house:—it despatches each bird with a single wound near to, or in, the head; and, after killing all it can, and sucking their blood, will convey them to its retreat. This the animal will carefully perform, going and returning, and bringing them one by one to its hole; but if it should happen that the opening by which it got into the dove-house be not large enough for the body of the pigeon to pass through, this mischievous animal contents itself with carrying away the heads, and makes a most delicious feast upon the brains.

The polecat is also fond of honey, frequently robbing the bee hives in winter, a period when its prey is not so easily found in the woods and fields.

Their retreat is generally in banks well sheltered with brambles or underwood, or amongst brakes or woods, or other similar situations. They burrow in the ground, making a tolerably large hole, about two feet deep, which may easily be known by any one who has once noticed the hole of a polecat. In winter, they will frequently approach houses or buildings, and will rob the hen-roost, the pigeon-house, or even the dairy, when pressed by hunger: on these occasions, they contrive to form a retreat in or under some of the walls; and if they are unable to secure an asylum of this sort, they will make their way under the corn stacks, and whenever this happens to be the case, all the rats in the immediate vicinity remove to a greater distance; the polecat is a deadly enemy to the rat, and of this the latter is very well aware; and yet it would appear that the polecat (from its size) is unable to follow it through its burrows or runs; and the rat, as if conscious of this incapacity in the former, removes no further from the presence of its enemy than what may suit its convenience. The writer witnessed an instance, where a great number of rats were found in a stack of wheat, but all of them in the upper part; for several feet from the ground not a rat was to be met with, which excited some surprise; but the circumstance developed itself on reaching the bottom, where it was found an enormous polecat had taken up its abode.

The female brings forth her young in the spring, to the number of from four to six. To “stink like a polecat” is a common observation in some parts; and indeed so impregnated does every part of the animal appear to be with a very offensive fetid matter, that even the fur, which is soft and warm, can scarcely be divested of it. Whenever the polecat happens to be killed, the fetid matter just mentioned issues from the pores of its body in great quantities, forming a very unpleasant effluvium, which is perceptible even at some distance.

There are farmers to be met with who, whenever a polecat approaches their barns, buildings, or houses, afford it every possible protection, on account of its enmity to rats; but as its chief propensities are in direct opposition to the views of the sportsman, so gamekeepers should be careful to destroy it wherever it is to be met with.

If taken young, the polecat is not difficult to tame; nor in a domestic state is it offensive to the human olfactory organs; as although it is impregnated with a fetid matter, yet it would seem that the effluvium which thence arises is only thrown off when the animal is killed or very much alarmed.

The polecat is seldom seen during the day, unless compelled by hunger to quit its retreat; but, as soon as night sets in, it leaves its hole in quest of prey, when it may be pursued and killed by terriers. In the midland counties hunting the polecat by moonlight forms a diversion for schoolboys and the younger branches. After night-fall, when the polecat rambles abroad, its hole (if known) is stopped, the terriers are thrown off, one of which, upon whom the greatest dependence can be placed, has a small bell fastened round his neck, in order that the hunters may know where the dogs are questing. When they hit upon the scent, the terriers give tongue; and as soon as the polecat finds himself pursued, he makes directly for his hole, which, if stopped, he cannot of course enter, and is compelled to seek some other retreat, during which he is perhaps killed; if run to ground, he is very unceremoniously dug out and worried on the spot, it being a general opinion amongst the vulgar (in Leicestershire for instance), that whenever or wherever a polecat is run to ground, they have a right to dig him out.

The above method, however, is not the mode in which I would recommend gamekeepers to destroy the polecat; for the accomplishment of their purpose, they can go a much shorter and surer way to work: this animal seems possessed of little cunning, and is trapped with little difficulty. The steel trap is generally used for this animal; but it may be taken in the following manner:—box traps may be set in the bottom of ditches, or under walls or pales, with the ends of the traps fenced up to, for four or five yards aslant, and two or three yards wide at the entrance, with earth, bushes, or broken pales, so that the animal cannot pass without entering the trap. A trail of red herrings, half broiled, should be drawn from one trap to another, and the traps should be baited with the same material, with which also the ends of the traps may be rubbed. By having both ends of box-traps painted white, and rubbed with herrings or the entrails of any animal, hares will be deterred from entering. This mode is well calculated to catch the wild cat, or indeed any kind of quadrupedal vermin. Therefore, when any of the traps are sprung, a bag sufficiently large to admit an end of the trap is to be provided and slipped over it; and by rattling at the other end of the trap, the creature will spring into the bag; for, without some such precaution, should a wild cat be caught, the moment the light is admitted it will fly in the face of the person opening it This is the method generally adopted by warreners.

The steel-trap, however, is by far the best and surest method of taking the polecat—and indeed the best method of catching all kinds of vermin. It is more portable, more easily prepared, and very rarely fails in its operation.—_Gamekeeper’s Directory._

POLISH, _v._ To smooth, to brighten by attrition.

POLISH, _s._ Artificial gloss, brightness given by attrition.

POLISHER, _s._ The person or instrument that gives a gloss.

POLL, _s._ The head; a fish called generally a chub, a cheven.

POLLARD, _s._ A tree lopped; the chub fish.

POLLEN, _s._ A fine powder, commonly understood by the word farina, as also a sort of fine bran.

POLLEVIL, _s._ Pollevil is a large swelling, inflammation, or imposthume in the horse’s poll or nape of the neck.

POLLOCK, _s._ A kind of fish. This species is abundant on the British coasts.

POLYGON, _s._ A figure of many angles.

POMMEL, _s._ A round ball or knob; the knob that balances the blade of the sword; the protuberant part of the saddle before.

POND, _s._ A small pool or lake of water, a basin, a water not running or emitting any stream.

Very little is known of the habits and economy of fish, from the nature of the element in which they live. When I resided in Bushy Park, I caused the sides and bottom of a place to be bricked, through which a stream of very clear water ran, and stocked it with most of the varieties of our English fresh-water fish, supplying them abundantly with food; but though I constantly watched them, and could see all they did at any time of the day, the result of my observations was far from being satisfactory. The perch were the boldest and most familiar of any of the fish, as I found no difficulty in soon getting them to come with eagerness to take a worm out of my hand. The barbel were the shyest, and seemed most impatient of observation, although in the spring, when they could not perceive any one watching them, they would roll about and rub themselves against the brickwork, and show considerable playfulness. There were some large stones in my _piscatorium_, round which they would wind their spawn in considerable quantities. The trout appeared to bear their confinement with less philosophy than any of the others, making high leaps against the grating which admitted the water, and seeming at all times out of sorts and out of condition. The chub were also very restless, being continually on the move, but they never could resist a cockchafer when thrown to them. My flounders only moved at night, and the eels always made their escape, but in what way I never could conjecture, except, indeed, they had the power of crawling up the brick-work, which was about five feet from top to bottom, and generally two feet above the edge of the water. They certainly could not get through the grating, which was sufficiently close to confine bleak and gudgeons; and some of the eels were of a large size. The pike, of which I had eight of about five pounds’ weight each, kept up their character for voracity. Out of 800 gudgeons which were brought to me by a Thames fisherman, and which I saw counted into the reservoir—some few of which, however, died—there were scarcely any to be seen at the end of three weeks; though I should mention, that three large barbel I had, and six good-sized perch, probably partook of them.

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Jesse, p. 86, says, I will now give an account published by Mr. Neill, in the Scots’ Magazine, of some sea-fish kept in a small pond into which sea-water could be introduced. This pond was from time to time replenished with fish. The following fishes were in it:—

1. _Cod._—They were lively, and caught greedily at shell-fish which were thrown into the pond. They kept chiefly, however, in the deep water, and, after approaching with a circular sweep, and making a snatch at the prey, descended out of sight to devour it.

2. _Haddock._—These, contrary to expectation, were found to be the tamest fishes in the pond. At ebb tide they came to the inner margin, and ate limpets from the hand of a little boy, the son of a keeper. They appeared white, and rather sickly.

3. _Coalfish._—Some of these were of a large size, exceeding in dimensions the largest cod in the pond. They were bold and familiar, floating about slowly and majestically, till some food was thrown to them; this they seized voraciously, whether it consisted of shell-fish or ship biscuit. They would also occasionally approach the margin, and take their food from the keeper’s hand.

4. _Whiting._—These were scarce in the pond, and very shy.

5. _Pollack._—This was pretty common, and has been found to answer well as a pond fish.

6. _Salmon._—This was the wildest and quickest in its motions of all the inhabitants. When a muscle or limpet, freed from the shell, was thrown on the surface of the water, the salmon very often darted forward and took the prey from all the competitors, disappearing with a sudden jerk and turn of the body.

7. _Flat fish_ or _flounders_, of two sorts, were also in the pond, but they naturally kept at the bottom, and were not seen.

The food given to the fishes consisted chiefly of sand-eels and of shell-fish, particularly limpets and muscles. In the herring-fishery season, herrings were cut in pieces for this purpose.

It is remarkable that all the kinds of sea-fish above enumerated, seemed to agree very well together. No fighting had ever been observed by the keeper, and seldom any chasing of one species by another. None of the fish ever bred.

Dr. Fleming has remarked, that when a salt-water fish is put into fresh water, its motions speedily become irregular, its respiration appears to be affected, and, unless released, it soon dies; and that the same consequences follow when a fresh-water fish is suddenly immersed in salt water.

This is not, however, the case with all fish. A cod will not only live, but thrive well in fresh water, if properly fed. A respectable fishmonger assured me that he had tried the experiment, and succeeded, and offered to send me some live cod in a well-boat, for my _piscatorium_ in Bushy Park.

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_Immense value of pond fish._—The fish in the ponds of Lucullus, sold, after his decease, for 3,000,000 of sesterces (24,218_l._ 15_s._ sterling). Caius Hirtus first introduced the keeping of lampreys in stews, and lent Cæsar, during the time of his triumph, 600 of these fish, for which he would receive no equivalent in money, nor any other commodity, but conditioned the repayment to be the same number and weight of lampreys. His ponds and fish about his house, which was itself extremely small, were sold for one million more than the above sum (32,291_l._ 13_s._ 4_d._)

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In August 1799, the Earl of Essex fished a large pond near Radnor Forest, which had been stocked fifty-eight years. Carp and eels were the only fish found in it; of the former, 100 brace were taken that weighed from fourteen to fifteen pounds each carp; of the latter, the largest exceeded eight pounds.—_Jesse_—_Daniel._

PONY, _s._ A small horse.

POODLE (_Canis aquaticus minor_), _s._ _Vide_ WATER DOG.