  DACE,—a small fish, common in most rivers, where it is seen swimming near the surface, mostly in shallows, and near bridges, held in no estimation but with the common people. DAISY-CUTTER,—a sporting term for horses that go so near the ground, they frequently touch it with the tip of one toe or the other, and are constantly in danger of falling. A horse with broken knees may be considered of this description. DAPPLE.—Horses are so called who have partial variegated hues in the coat of different sizes, constituting small circles, both lighter and darker than the general colour of the horse. Such are said to be dappled; hence we have dapple bays, dapple greys, and sometimes dapple blacks. DEALERS.—See Horse Dealers. DECOCTION.—A decoction for the purpose of fomenting swellings, tumours, or enlargements, (either as an emollient or discutient,) is made by boiling a double handful of Roman wormwood, camomile flowers, bay leaves, and elder flowers, in two gallons of water, for a quarter of an hour, DECOY,—a canal, river, pond, or sheet of water, appropriated to the profitable purpose of taking wild ducks and teal: it is a business peculiar to those only who profess it, and conducted upon a principle of the strictest stillness and regularity. The person having the management of a decoy, must possess taciturnity and patience in a very great degree, both being brought into constant practice; without which, success can neither be expected or deserved. The fowl are brought within the tunnel of the net by stratagem, where, at a critical moment, they are enclosed and taken. All this, however, depends upon the industry, sagacity, deception, and exertion, of the DECOY-DUCK, by whose wiles and allurements the whole flight are brought within the space allotted to their destruction. The decoy-ducks are trained to their business almost from the shell, and amply demonstrate what services may be obtained, what fidelity insured, or what attachment excited, by the exertion of tenderness and humanity, even to the more inferior parts of the creation. It, however, often happens, that the wild fowl are in such a state of sleepiness and dozing, that they The general season for catching fowl in decoys is from the latter end of October till February: the taking of them earlier is prohibited by an act 10th of George II. which forbids it from June 1st to October 1st under the penalty of five shillings for each bird destroyed within that space. An action will lie against the disturber of a decoy, by firing a gun, or any other act of wilful injury to the owner. Decoys cannot be formed, nor need they be attempted, but where nature has been a little diffuse in her favors for the formation: marshy low lands, plenty of water, and sequestered situations, are indispensably necessary to a successful embarkation. They are to be found in different parts of the kingdom, but more plentiful in the northern and eastern counties than in any other. Essex, Cambridgeshire, DEER,—a word indiscriminately used, implies (in its most extensive sense) the animals inhabiting parks and forests, whose flesh is equally denominated VENISON, though very different in size, flavour, and estimation. Deer are of two kinds; the one principally bred and preserved for the chase, the other for the table. A perfect description of the first will be found under the proper heads of Red Deer, Stag, and Hind; of the latter, under Fallow Deer, Buck, and Doe. DEER-STEALERS—are those nocturnal desperadoes who, setting at defiance all laws, all possession of property, and the protectors of it, disguise themselves, and, under cover of the night, attack, seize, kill, and carry away, from the best fenced parks, bucks or does, (according to the season,) with the greatest impunity. Their mainspring of action is a dog of the cur kind, called "a coney-cut lurcher:" this is a breed peculiar to itself, and those who use it; being a light sort of brindled wiry-haired mongrel, with a natural stump tail, having the appearance of a bastard greyhound. They are exceedingly fleet and lasting, run mute, These offences, so long thought but little of, became at length enormities of such magnitude, that the Legislature discovered a necessity for the introduction of new and more severe pains and penalties. A variety of statutes were enacted in the reigns of former sovereigns for the punishment of such offenders, which are now fully concentrated in the Acts of Parliament passed in the present reign of George III. By these statutes, if any persons shall hunt, or take in a snare, kill or wound, any red or fallow deer, in any forest, chase, &c. whether inclosed or not, or in any inclosed park, paddock, &c. or be aiding in such offence; they shall forfeit twenty pounds for the first offence; and also thirty pounds for each DEER wounded, killed, or taken. A GAME-KEEPER, guilty of either, to forfeit double. For a second offence, the offenders may be transported for seven years. Justices may grant warrants to search for heads, skins, &c. of stolen deer, and for toils, snares, &c. and persons having such in their possession, to forfeit from ten to thirty pounds, at the discretion of the justices. Persons unlawfully setting nets or snares, to forfeit, for the first offence, from five to ten pounds; and for every other offence, from ten to twenty pounds. Persons pulling down pales or fences of any forest, chase, park, paddock, wood, &c. subject to the penalties annexed to the first offence for killing deer. Dogs, guns, and engines, may be seized by the PARK-KEEPERS; and persons resisting, shall be transported for seven years. Penalties may be levied by distress; in default of which, offenders to be committed for twelve months. Persons disguised, and in arms, appearing in any forest, park, paddock, &c. and killing red or fallow deer, deemed felons without benefit of clergy. DEFAULT;—a term in hunting, which custom has reduced to an abbreviation, and is in general called FAULT. The hounds, during a chase of any kind, when losing the scent, throwing up their noses, seeming at a loss, and dashing different ways, in anxious and earnest hope of recovery, are then said to be at "a fault." This is the very moment when the judgment of the huntsman is most required, and the soonest to be observed. Different opinions have been formed, and decisions made, respecting the proper mode of proceeding at so critical a juncture, whether to try forward, or to try back: here a great deal depends upon the GAME you are hunting of, and the country you are hunting in, which circumstances at the time can only determine. However opinions may vary upon some particular points, all seem to coincide upon others; that the ground should invariably be made good forward, previous to trying back; that a general silence should prevail, and not an unnecessary aspiration be heard, that can tend to attract the attention of a single If HOUNDS, in pursuit of deer or fox, throw up on a fallow or highway, they cannot be got forward too soon; certain it is they have neither of them stopt there: not so with the hare, who is likely to have thrown herself out by the side of one, or squatted in a land (or furrow) of the other. Faults with the two former, are much more easily and expeditiously hit off than with the latter, with whom they are sometimes tediously incessant, particularly with a young or a hard-hunted hare: it should therefore, be a fixed rule, never to abandon a fault, if possible, without recovery; it being as likely, at least, to bring the lost hare to a view, as to find a fresh one. DEFECTS—in horses differ very materially from what are termed BLEMISHES, (which see:) the latter are always considered conspicuous, and easily observed by the eye of experience and judicious inspection. A horse may have defects not so readily to be perceived, and consequently remain a longer or shorter period before they are discovered: he may prove incorrigibly restive, and not happen to display it in a new situation for days or weeks; he may be a seasoned and invincible crib-biter; he That this matter, however, may be the better and more universally understood, it cannot be inapplicable to introduce the opinion which the late Lord Mansfield held publicly in the Court of King's Bench; "that a restive horse was tantamount to an unsound one; and upon this principle, that if the subject so purchased was evidently restive, and would not, or could not, by fair means, be prevailed upon to go where he was required, he was equally useless with an invalid whose lameness or infirmity prevented him from executing the purposes for which he was purchased." From such authority (founded upon the basis of equity) there can be but little, if any, doubt, an action brought for the recovery of money paid for a restive horse, such horse having been "WARRANTED SOUND," would obtain a verdict. As, however, the proverbial uncertainty of the LAW, the confusion of witnesses, and the caprice of a sleepy jury, are DELPINI,—originally called "Hackwood," was bred by the late Duke of Bolton; foaled in 1781; and got by Highflyer out of Countess, who was got by Blank. Delpini proved himself a very capital racer, beating most of the best horses of his year at all ages. He has also acquired some celebrity as a STALLION, being the sire of Kilton, Prior, Skelton, Miss Ann, Tiptoe, Abram Wood, Cardinal, Clymene, Dido, Golden Locks, Dapple, Flutter, Little Scot, Miss Beverly, Nixon, Opposition, Timothy, Agnes, Blue Beard, Camperdown, Duchess, Hopwell, L'AbbÉ, Laborie, Patch, Stourton, Symmetry, Baron Nile, Maid of the Mill, Slap-bang, Sabella, and many others, all winners. DIABETES,—divested of medical dignity, and technical ambiguity, is neither more or less than a profuse, frequent, and involuntary discharge of urine, from a weakness of some of the parts necessary to the secretion and evacuation of that particular excrement. Whatever may have been the DIAMOND—was esteemed for some years the speediest and best bottomed horse in the kingdom. He was foaled in 1792; bred by Mr. Dawson; got by Highflyer out of the dam of Sparkler, and was own brother to Screveton. At three years old he repeatedly ran in handsome with some of the first horses, and was within a length of winning the Derby at Epsom when twelve started, but did no more than receive 50 guineas forfeit from Lark at the second Newmarket Meeting of the year 1795. First Spring Meeting, 1796, he won the Jockey Stakes of 100 guineas each, six subscribers. In the July Meeting of the same year he WALKED OVER for a sweepstakes of 200 guineas each, seven subscribers. In 1797, when Mr. Cookson's, he won the King's hundred at Newcastle, and a 50l. plate the next day at the same place; 50l. at York; the 50 guineas for all ages DIET.—The diet of horses in this country is now so universally known, that very little is required upon the subject of explanation under this head. The articles called oats, beans, hay, bran, chaff, carrots, and grains, are individually brought into use, as may best coincide with the pecuniary propensities, or liberal sensations, of the owners. Whatever may be written upon the subject of quantity and quality, will very little influence the enquirers upon those heads; the GENTLEMAN and the SPORTSMAN will never alter their invariable plan of plenty, and of the best quality; but the long list of coachmasters, postmasters, job and hackney-men, carmen, carriers, and inferior tradesmen, who merely exist, under the unavoidable accumulation of taxes, cannot feed their horses as they would, but are compelled to feed them as they can. No particular instructions, therefore, become materially The management of horses of every description, whether for the turf, the field, or the road, is now so systematically understood by the different classes of society, that nothing new, instructive, or entertaining, can be introduced under that head. Each horse is supported in a way (at least in respect to quantity and quality of food) individually, and regulated by the opinion of the owner, or the work he has to perform. One conceives, from his own sensations of liberality, even four feeds of corn a day too little; another considers two rather too much. In such contrariety and diversity, who can expect to see opinions concentrate in one particular point? Such hope, if adopted, will be eternally disappointed. It may not be inapplicable to have it always in memory, that it is not the number of feeds, or the quantity of hay, that should constitute the criterion, but the quality of both upon which the nutritious support entirely depends. Three measures of good corn will contribute more nutriment to the frame, and invigoration to the system, than five of bad: and twenty-eight pounds of substantial fragrant hay will at all times be more prudent, and more profitable, than even double the quantity of a very inferior quality. This data judiciously and occasionally adverted to, will sufficiently widen the ground of information to every comprehension; it being only necessary to hold in memory the additional circumstance, that horses fed too high, without proportional work, exercise, and evacuations, must become full, plethoric, and ultimately disordered; while, on the contrary, those whose blood is permitted to become impoverished from a want of the necessary supply of FOOD, will soon display it in a wasting of the flesh, a contracted state of the crest, and, if long continued, probably produce some of those diseases originating in a serious and acrimonious state of the blood. DIOMED—was in great repute as a racer, and afterwards as A STALLION at ten guineas a mare. He was bred by Sir C. Bunbury; got by Florizel; dam by Spectator, and grand-dam by Blank; was foaled in 1777, and proved himself an equal runner with the best horse of his time. As a stallion, he has propagated some of the finest stock in the kingdom. Diomed is the sire of Anthony, Charlotte, Grey Diomed, LaÏs, Mademoiselle, Playfellow, Quetlavaca, Sir Cecil, Whiskers, Montezuma, Glaucus, Speculator, Champion, Little Pickle, Michael, Monkey, Young Grey Diomed, Snip, Tom, Robin Grey, Dalham, Guatimozin, Habakkuk, Adela, CÆdar, Switch, Greyhound, Laurentina, Poplar, Wrangler, and Egham; all considered WINNERS; exclusive of DISEASE—is not only a state of the body directly opposite to the standard of health, but may be defined of two kinds; as those with which we are afflicted by the influence of a superior Power, whose wisdom we are not permitted to explore; and by others that, in acts of neglect and indiscretion, we bring upon ourselves. Diseases are differently conceived: some writers describe them by their cause, some by their effect: leaving the investigation in a kind of medical mystery, bearing no ill affinity to theological ambiguity. In fact, the word is only introduced here to remind every reader, that, in respect to both MAN and HORSE, prevention is preferable to CURE. DISTANCE;—a sporting term appertaining solely to the TURF. It is a length of two hundred and forty yards (actual measurement) from the WINNING-POST of every RACE-COURSE in the kingdom; precisely at which spot is fixed a post corresponding with others, but having a gallery annexed capable of holding three or four persons, which is called the DISTANCE-POST. In this gallery, as well as in the gallery of the winning-post, before the horses start each heat, is stationed a person holding a crimson flag; during the time the horses are running, each flag is suspended from the front of the gallery to DIURETICS.—The class of medicines so called, are those which, by their peculiar stimulus, act solely upon the parts appropriated to the secretion of urine and its evacuation; thereby relieving the frame from such impurities, or slight disorders as pass under the denomination of HUMOURS, and are said to originate in the state of the blood. The advertised diuretic balls of the Author are recommended and established for their well-known efficacy in "cracks, scratches, inflammation of the eyes, perceptible foulness, swelled legs, and grease." Diuretics are the more useful and convenient, because a horse can DOE—is the female of the FALLOW DEER, bred in PARKS, and are the species from which the table is supplied with venison: the male is called A BUCK; the female, A DOE: the young (of which they produce but one annually) is called A FAWN. Doe venison is not considered equal in epicurean estimation with the buck, either in fat or flavour; nor is it in season till the latter has declined: this happens at the beginning of autumn, when the season for copulation (called rutting time) comes on. Fawns are killed for the table at three months old, consequently in use during the latter end of August, and first weeks of September. DOGS,—that well-known species of animal whose fidelity, attachment, gratitude, and general utility, very far exceed every eulogium within the power of the profuse pen of admiration to bestow. Their virtues and useful qualifications are beyond the most prolific description: they are the protectors of our property at home, the promoters of our pleasures abroad, and the pleasing partners of our domestic comforts by the fire-side. The Rev. Mr. Daniel, in his elegant production called "Rural Sports," has given a very full and satisfactory historical account of their origin, the different kinds and crosses, with instances, and well authenticated In the reign of Queen Elizabeth was published a systematical arrangement of the different kind of dogs peculiar to Britain; but many of the names by which they were known, having since become obsolete, they have been most judiciously classed by Mr. Daniel under the following genealogical heads. 1. Shepherds' Dog; Wolf Dog; Iceland Dog; Lapland Dog; Siberian Dog.—2. Hound; Harrier; Terrier.—3. Large Spaniel; Small Spaniel; Water Dog; Small Water Dog.—4. Bull Dog.—5. Large Danish Dog; Irish Greyhound; Great Hound Mongrel; Large Greyhound; English Greyhound; and lastly, the Mastiff Dog. When, after an investigation so seemingly clear, and a description so truly systematic, every sportsman must be equally surprised, that there is no collateral branch of the "Genealogical Table," by which the Pointer has been produced; so that, with both these Authors, his ab origine, or unde derivatur, is left in equal obscurity. As the qualification of each particular sporting dog will be more minutely adverted to under the distinct heads of Hound, Greyhound, Pointer, Terrier, &c. it becomes only applicable here, to The signs of madness in a dog are as follow: He becomes dull, solitary, and endeavours to hide himself: he seldom barks, but makes a kind of murmuring noise, and refuses all kinds of meat and drink: he is enraged at, and flies upon, strangers; but in this stage he remembers and respects his master: his ears and head hang down; he walks nodding, as if overpowered with sleep: this is the first stage; and a bite now, though dangerous, is not so bad as afterwards. After these symptoms, the dog begins to pant; he breathes quick and heavy; hangs out his tongue, to emit a great deal of froth from his mouth, which he keeps perpetually open: sometimes he walks slowly, and as if half asleep, and then suddenly runs, but not always directly forward, as pretended: at length he forgets his master; his eyes look dispirited, dull, full of tears, and red; his tongue is of a lead colour, he grows faint and weak; oft reels, staggers, and falls; then rises suddenly, and attempts to fly at every thing, becoming now mad and furious: this second stage seldom continues thirty hours, death putting by that time an end to the disease: and a bite received during the last stage is justly considered incurable. To these distinguishing traits of the dreadful malady, may be added the following, which are believed certain Those who wish to go into a most ingenious and explanatory investigation of madness, and its different kinds in dogs, will feel themselves highly gratified in a perusal of that part of Mr. Daniel's "Rural Sports," who has systematically introduced the best and most judicious opinions and authorities upon the subject. The disease occasioned by the bite of a mad dog is called HYDROPHOBIA; and the smallest quantity of his saliva, either fresh or dry, will produce it. The infection frequently lies dormant for many months, and then displays itself with the greatest violence; but, in general, it appears from a month to six weeks, at the expiration of which, if no symptoms of disorder are perceptible, the patient is considered to be safe, and not to have received the infection. It has been thought by the best medical authority, that the nearer the place bitten is to the salivary glands, the sooner the symptoms appear; and this, by observation and experience, is now fully confirmed. In order to communicate the infection, a wound is no more necessary than it is in the small-pox; to the HUMAN SPECIES it can be communicated by the saliva only; but dogs have received it by being in the KENNEL where mad dogs have been before. This disorder, it seems, is only inherent and natural to the canine species, (as the dog, fox, and wolf;) but other animals having received the infection, by the puncture of the tooth from either of those, may then communicate it to any other species, and by the same means. When the human species become unhappily the subjects of this disorder, though in particular instances some variation may be observed, the symptoms are in general a slight pain in the wound, sometimes attended with itching, but always resembling a rheumatic pain; it extends also into the neighbouring parts, and at length from the extremities it passes into the viscera; the cicatrix (if there has been a wound) begins to swell, inflames, and then to discharge an ichor; and this alone may be considered the primary and invariable symptom of a certain hydrophobia. There are other more general pains, resembling rheumatic ones, and are of a quick, flying, convulsive kind: they affect the patient in the neck, joints, and other parts; a dull pain often seizes the head, neck, breast, belly, and even runs along the back-bone. The patient is gloomy, murmurs much, is forgetful, A deafness is sometimes complained of; the eyes are watery, the aspect sorrowful; the face becomes pale and contracted; sweat also breaks out about the temples: an unusual flow of saliva at length comes on, with a dryness of the fauces, a foulness of the tongue, and a disagreeable, or rather foetid, effluvia from the breath. As the above symptoms increase, the second stage advances: a fever comes on, which at first is mild, but attended with momentary horrors, and violent periodical agitations; wakefulness becomes continual; the mind is more and more disturbed; a delirium approaches; and an aversion to fluids and polished bodies is at this time plainly perceptible. At first, a constriction of the gullet is perceived, and a difficulty of swallowing; but as yet liquids are freely taken, although soon refused: this symptom augments so visibly, that, when any liquid comes before their sight, an horror immediately seizes them; and if they make an effort to drink, spasms are produced, on which horrid gesticulations, and loss of senses, follow. The patient now murmurs, groans, and mourns most distressingly, loses by degrees all knowledge of his most intimate acquaintance, and then becomes desirous of biting: reason returns at The subject of MADNESS in DOGS, and the HYDROPHOBIA in the human species, afford ample scope for reflection and scientific disquisition: this, however, not being the proper place for a literary enlargement upon either, it becomes necessary to introduce a few remarks upon that well known destructive disorder called "THE DISTEMPER," which Mr. Daniel properly observes, "is the most fatal (the plague only excepted) that any animal is subject to. It is astonishing what numbers have been destroyed by it within the period of its being known in this country, which is about forty years: whether the attention paid, and the medicines of different kinds now usually administered in its first stages, have occasioned the alteration, certain it is, the disease is milder, and less frequent, than it was twelve or fifteen years since." After all the dissections and minute investigations that can possibly be made, the distemper, in respect to its original or remote cause, sets every enquiry at defiance; and it remains in the same state of uncertainty in which it has continued for thirty years past. Great and indefatigable exertions, however, on the part of Mr. Blaine, (a professional gentleman of anatomical and medical celebrity,) have done much in the investigation; and as his researches are constant and unwearied, the SPORTING WORLD have yet much to expect from his perseverance. Mr. B. most candidly observes, that, "amidst all his investigations, although unable to discover the original cause of the disease, and after many experiments made upon probable ground to provide a cure for it, what enquiry, conducted on principles of reason and science, could not do, was effected by chance; and a remedy was found as certain in its effects, as it is possible for a remedy to be. Under a fair trial it has never been known to fail; even in the worst stages, when the convulsions were very frequent, it has removed the complaint; yet, where the disease is so malignant, the certainty must be diminished." Mr. Beckford, whose series of "Letters upon Hunting" are amongst the happiest efforts of truth and accurate observation, communicates a remedy for the distemper, transmitted to him by a friend whose hounds had derived great benefit from the Mr. Daniel has so largely and judiciously treated upon the subjects of the distemper and canine madness in his Rural Sports, that it is impossible to add a single thought or line upon either, without the most palpable appearance of plagiarism: his own observations, blended with a collection of well-authenticated facts, are so numerous, so just, and the inferences drawn so truly scientific, that nothing new or additionally advantageous can be introduced. Dogs of every description are held in such general estimation, that the Legislature has thought proper to render the privilege of keeping them a matter of pecuniary contribution to the support of government, and the exigencies of the state; under which increased and accumulated act, they are become very efficient objects of taxation, as will be readily conceived by the annexed abstract. "Persons keeping one DOG, not passing under the denomination of GREYHOUND, HOUND, POINTER, "Any person keeping one or more dogs, of either of the above description, is to pay ten shillings for every DOG up to any number of DOGS so kept." "Persons may compound for their HOUNDS at THIRTY POUNDS per annum." Dogs, from their general utility, and the estimation they are invariably held in by their owners, have been thought worthy an ACT of PARLIAMENT formed solely for their protection; rendering them of proportional value with any other kind of property, and equally entitled to legal preservation. By this statute it is enacted, "If any person shall steal any dog, or dogs, of any kind or sort whatsoever, from the owner thereof, or from any person entrusted by the owner thereof with such dog or dogs; or shall sell, buy, receive, harbour, detain, or keep any dogs of any kind or sort whatsoever, knowing the same to have been stolen as aforesaid; every such person being convicted thereof upon the oath of one credible witness, before two Justices of the Peace, shall for the first offence forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding 30l. nor less than 20l. and the charges of conviction." And "in case such penalty shall not be forthwith paid, the offender to be committed to gaol for any time not exceeding twelve months, nor less than six, or until the penalty and charges are paid. Any person guilty of a subsequent offence, to forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding 50l. nor less than 30l. together with the charges; which penalties to be paid, one moiety thereof to the informer, and the other to the poor of the parish. On non-payment, the offender to be imprisoned for any time not exceeding eighteen months, nor less than twelve, or until the penalty and charges shall be paid, and be publicly whipped. Justices may grant warrants to search for dogs stolen; and in case any such dog or dogs, or their skins, shall, upon such search, be found, to take and restore every such dog or skin to the owner; and the persons in whose custody any such dog or skin shall be found, are liable to the like penalties and punishments. Persons aggrieved may appeal to the quarter-sessions, and the determination there to be final." .—The amputation of the tail is so called, from that part of the tail left to the body being called the DOCK. It is a very short and simple operation, attended with no danger, and may with yearlings be performed even with a common knife. A very slight cauterization with a hot-iron, and a little powdered rosin, immediately stops the DOUBLE—a term in HARE HUNTING. The hare is said to double, when, being considerably ahead of the hounds, she throws herself to the right or left, and returns in a parallel line to the track she went before; getting into which, she is said to run the foil. If during the chase the lays down, she is then said to quat. DRAG—is a sporting term in HUNTING, and used exactly in the same sense with THE FOX, as trail is with THE HARE. Upon throwing THE HOUNDS into covert, to draw for a FOX, any single hound giving tongue, is said to CHALLENGE, and to have hit upon drag; that is, to have come upon the foot or scent of the fox, where he had been in the night or early part of the morning, before he retired to secrete himself for the day. When it was the custom to be at the covert side so soon as there was day-light sufficient to RIDE up to the HOUNDS, drag was speedily obtained; and in many instances a GOOD DRAG proved better than a bad chase; but in the present fashion of going to covert, and throwing off at mid-day, drag is but very little DRAG-NET—is the particular NET in use with those nocturnal depredators who exert their utmost endeavours to devastate every water in the neighbourhood where they reside. It is of sufficient length to extend from one side of any moderate pond, moat, or river, to the other; and having the bottom plentifully loaded with leads at equal distances, with the addition of assistants at each end to bring the two together, encloses of course all the fish within its draught. DRAUGHT or Draft Horses—are of two kinds; the one adapted to the light carriages and splendid trappings of the great; the other to the purposes of agriculture, and the commercial transactions of the Metropolis, where their numbers, their strength, and powerful execution, exceed every idea of the most fertile imagination. See Cart Horses. DRAWING—is a term used in FOX and STAG HUNTING, when drawing a covert to find either of the former, or an outlying deer; it being customary to say, "we draw for A FOX;" "we try for A HARE." DRAW-NET—is used for taking birds of different kinds, but more particularly applied to the net made use of with the SETTING DOG for taking PARTRIDGES, by which mode the whole COVEY are frequently secured. The old birds are liberated, and the young destined to the table. This is, however, considered so destructive and unfair a practice, that it is continued but by very few, and those principally consist of RUSTIC TYRANTS, or rigid Cynics, who wish to monopolize not only the SPORT and the GAME, but all the good things of this life. DRAY.—A squirrel's deposit for its young is so called; it is built in the triangular branches of a tree, and resembles the nest of a magpye. DRENCH, or Drink,—any medical composition prepared in a liquid form, and given to horses or cattle for the cure of disease. A distinction is made between the two in general; it being the custom to say, DRINK for a HORSE, drench for a cow. They are given with a horn, sold by saddlers and collar-makers for that purpose. DRIFT—is the act of driving A COMMON. This ceremony takes place once, twice, or thrice, a year, (according to the custom of the place,) to insure and continue the privilege of the Lord of the Manor, as well as to preserve the rights of the DRIVER,—a name given to many famous horses, but of very different blood. The first was foaled in 1727, bred by the Duke of Ancaster, and got by the Wynn Arabian, of no great note. Mr. Beaver's Driver was foaled 1732, and got by Snake out of Thwaites's dun mare. Mr. Lamego's Driver (commonly called Little Driver) was got by Beaver's Driver; dam by Childers; grand-dam by the Walpole Barb; was foaled in 1743; and for some years proved one of the best plate horses in the kingdom, having won upwards of thirty fifties; but as a stallion never produced any winners. Lord Egremont's Driver, foaled in 1783, was got by Trentham, dam (Coquette) by the Compton Barb, and proved a tolerable runner. DROPSY of the Chest—is a disorder to which horses are subject; and many instances have occurred in the practice of the Author, where seven, eight, and in one case near ten gallons of water were found in the CAVITY of the CHEST, upon opening the body after death. This accumulation of fluid being completely extravasated, no hope of cure can be entertained, as the preternatural collection can neither be taken up by absorption, or carried off by evacuation. There seems to be only one predominant trait, or distinguishing symptom, by which this disorder can be even tolerably ascertained, and that is solely by the ACTION of the horse. In either walk, trot, or gallop, (and the more as his pace is increased in each,) the fore legs seemingly spread from each other, as if they were internally distended by painful pressure, similar to division by forcible expansion, not at all unlike the means used by butchers in the stick pointed at each end to extend the limbs of carcases when displayed for sale. The legs in a trot constitute a painful hobble; and in a GALLOP the subject cannot get his legs before him, but appears at every motion likely to pitch upon his head. All this gives every reason to believe the defect, when first discovered, is frequently thought a lameness in the shoulder, and the patient presently deemed a chest-foundered horse. If a horse having a DROPSY in the CHEST, and the collection of water (from the duration of disease) is large, much information may be derived respecting DRUGS.—The parts of the MATERIA MEDICA are so called in their individual state, previous to their incorporation with each other, when they then become CHEMICALS or GALENICALS, according to the different processes they have undergone; and the most eminent commercial houses in that way, announce themselves dealers in "Chemicals, Galenicals, and Drugs." There is nothing requires more the scrutinizing eye of the SPORTSMAN, or the judicious exertion of the VETERINARIAN, than the selection of MEDICINES; upon the pure and unadulterated properties of which, he has alone to depend for the foundation of all his hopes, the gratification of all his wishes, and the support of all his professional reputation. It is a matter too universally known to require much information, that DRUGS of different kinds The DRUGS and MEDICINES indispensibly necessary for the professional embarkation of the VETERINARIAN, are as follow; and without the entire possession of which, it will be impossible to do justice to the good opinion of his employers, or to the reputation he may be anxious to obtain.
To which may be added ointments detergent, digestive, and healing; lint, tow, syringes, pipes, bladders, &c. to meet all emergencies. Nothing so much betrays a want of medical knowledge and consistency, as the habitual indolence of being without the necessary apparatus, when suddenly called upon in cases of ALARM and DANGER. Judicious practitioners never fall into the slovenly mode of substituting one medicine for another, unless difficulties or distance prevent the possibility of their being obtained. Many of the foregoing articles will also be found useful in the possession of gentlemen resident in remote parts of the country, or at a distance from DUBBING.—Taking off the COMB and GILLS from a game chick, before he is turned to a master-walk, is so called. The operation is performed with a penknife for the comb, and scissars for the gills; after which wash the parts with vinegar, or weak salt and water, which terminates the whole. DULNESS—in a horse of any tolerable spirit, may be considered an infallible sign of present disquietude, or approaching DISEASE. In all cases, accurate investigation, and early relief, are much to be commended: even a slight cold attended to at its commencement, may be prevented from speedily producing an INFLAMMATION of the LUNGS, FEVER, or many other disorders of equal anxiety, trouble, and expence. DUNG.—The excrement of the horse is so DUNGANNON,—the name of a horse of much celebrity, his winnings being equal to any racer of his day. He was bred by Col. O'Kelly, and foaled in 1780. He was got by Eclipse; dam (Aspasia) by Herod; her dam (Doris) by Blank; grand-dam (Helen) by Spectator, &c. &c. After beating every horse of eminence, particularly the famous horse Rockingham over Newmarket, he was taken out of training, and as a stallion produced annually some of the speediest and best bottomed |
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