Hounds soon learn to try back when they have overrun the line and to cast themselves, and should never be interfered with as long as they are working on their own account. There is no more heartbreaking sensation than to find that you have lifted a hound wrongly when he was working out the right line for himself.

The Bloodhound can not only puzzle out a colder line than any other hound, but he has the great characteristic that he is "free from change," as the French say, and after he has had a small amount of training he should be quite reliable to stick to the line of the hunted man, although it has been crossed by many others.

It is best to train hounds singly at first, and to be very careful when hunting hounds in a pack that they shall be well matched, or there is a danger of the slower hounds running to the leading ones, instead of working out the line for themselves. Any one who is fond of seeing hounds work, but who has only a limited amount of country to hunt over, will derive an immense amount of pleasure in hunting man with one or two couples of Bloodhounds. In such circumstances it is a great convenience to be able to select the exact course, which could not be done if hunting some animal, and a great variety of different runs may be planned over comparatively limited ground.

There is nothing more delightful than to see Bloodhounds working out a line carefully under varying conditions, and, after a check and the line has been hit off again, to hear their sonorous, deep, bell-like note. There is not, of course, the slightest danger to the runner, even if the hounds have never seen him before. When they have come up and sniffed him over, they take no further interest in him. There is plenty of scope for enterprise in this direction, and no reason why the Bloodhound should not be restored to the old pitch of excellence, when he could be relied upon to run his man down on a scent twelve to twenty-four hours old.

Fortunately for the Bloodhound, it has been impossible to make him a more picturesque animal in any other way than by accentuating the special features for which he is remarkable, and he has therefore escaped the ruin which has been wrought on some breeds by the development of fancy points that are quite foreign to them. Consequently we have the special properties indicative of great scenting power developed to an extent never known before, and the trainer has now more suitable material ready to his hand than any previously available.

During the "Jack the Ripper" outrages in 1889 Sir Charles Warren approached the writer, who took up a couple of well-known hounds, and various experiments were made in the parks, which demonstrated to Sir Charles Warren's satisfaction that Bloodhounds could hunt man on grass land, crossing roads, etc., and that they would not change when the line had been crossed by others than the hunted man; but it was not found practicable to hunt a line on a London pavement, and the writer had never held out any hope that this could be done. It is, however, interesting to note that during the two months during which the hounds were in London these murders ceased, but immediately the hounds were sent back another outrage was committed. This speaks volumes for the deterrent influence of the Bloodhound.

The chief requisite for the use of Bloodhounds in the pursuit of criminals is to have a few yards that may be relied upon not to have been traversed by any other recent footsteps than those of the particular criminal wanted. These few yards are for the purpose of laying on the hound. For this reason the ideal chance of making Bloodhounds useful is such a case as a country house dinner-time jewel robbery present. Here access to the house is usually by means of a ladder placed against an upstairs window. In such cases there is a great probability of being able to lay the hound on the right line.

The Association of Bloodhound Breeders (founded 1897 - Hon. Sec, Mr. A. Croxton-Smith, Burlington House, Wandle Road, Upper Tooting) is doing much to encourage, by means of promoting trials and matches between its members, proficiency in man-hunting; but so far the competitions have been on lines only one and two hours old, and it is to be hoped that much severer tests will shortly be practicable.

The most noted winners of trials and matches have been the writer's Kickshaw, 1896 (Championship, 1900), and Clotho, 1896, Mrs. Oliphant's Chatley Rocket, and Lieut.-Colonel Joynson's Ballet. On the show-bench the most celebrated winners have been: -

In the sixties: Jennings's Druid, Cowen's Druid, Draco, Dingle, and Dauntless, Holford's Regent, Matchless, and Trimbush, Ray's Roswell and Peeress, Rushton's Duchess and Juno, Becker's Brenda, and the writer's Clotho and Rufus. Of these hounds by far the grandest were Regent, Matchless, Roswell, and the two Druids.

In the seventies : the writer's Napier and Brilliant, Bradford's Rollo, Ray's Baron and Baroness, Bird's Brutus, Morrell's Belladonna, Nichols's Diana, and Tinker's Dido; and of these the most celebrated were Napier, Rollo, Brutus, and Belladonna.

In the eighties: Nichols's Triumph and Invincible, Bird's Hebe, Beaufoy's Nestor, the writer's Bono, Beckford, Brevity Barnaby, Babette, and Beeswing, Clayton's Luath XL, Wright's Hector II., Homfray's Nell Gwynne, Cousen's Cromwell, Craven's Dandy and Chesterton Duchess, Hill's Tantrums, and Tinker's Darby. Of these the best were Triumph, Hebe, Nestor, Bono, Beckford, Brevity, Nell Gwynne, Cromwell, and Tantrums.