"The eye" Arrian says, "should be large, upraised, clear, and strikingly bright. The best look fiery, and flash like lightning, resembling those of leopards, lions, or lynxes." The clear, bright, and fiery eye is always a necessity, although, of course, the condition of the dog and the circumstances under which he is seen must be considered in judging of it. A medium-sized eye, however, is better than a large one. The colour usually varies with that of the coat, as in all breeds, though light eyes are met with in dark dogs, and are objectionable.

Of the ears Arrian writes: "They should be large and soft, so as to appear broken ; but it is no bad indication if they appear erect, provided they are not small and stiff." This description would not be accepted as satisfactory now, as ears are preferred small, and free from all coarseness. Neither does Markham's "a sharp ear, short, and close-falling," quite convey the modern idea of a Greyhound's ear; it should be soft, fine in leather, and folded, with the shoulder of the ear strong enough to carry the whole up when the dog is excited or his attention fixed.

The neck is the next point, and it is one of very great importance. It must be long, strong, well clothed with muscle, yet withal gracefully set on, well balanced, and wonderfully flexible and supple. A long, supple neck is necessary to enable the dog to strike the hare without stopping.

Continuing from the neck we have the beam-like back - that is, of good breadth and strength; without this the dog could not endure the exhaustive process of the "pumpers" he is submitted to.

The chest, too, must be deep and fairly wide. Arrian says: "Broad chests are better than narrow; shoulders wide apart, not tied together, but as loose and free as possible; legs round, straight, and well jointed; sides strong; loins broad, firm, not fleshy, but sinewy ; upper flanks loose and supple; hips wide asunder; lower flanks hollow; tail long, fine, and supple ; haunches sweeping, and fine to the touch." In respect to the chest, it is needless to say how all-important it is that it should be capacious; but we must get capacity from the depth and squareness, not from the bulged-out, barrel form, which would produce slow movement and a heavy-fronted dog that would soon tire.

The shoulders should be set on as obliquely as possible, to enable the dog to throw his fore legs well forward in his gallop, the shoulder-blades sloping in towards each other as they rise; they should be well clothed with muscle, but not fleshy and coarse so as to look loaded; the shoulders should not be tied together, but have plenty of freedom - this, with the strong muscles of the loin, enables the dog to turn fast and cleverly; the elbows must be neither turned out nor in; the bone of the leg must be strong; there must be good length of arm; and the leg below the knee must be short and very strong, and the foot roundish (but not of that cat-like roundness that the Abbess and many other authors suggest) and compact.

The beam-like back is to give the necessary strength; the deep chest is needed with sufficient width to give plenty of room for the lungs and heart to freely perform their functions; width is needed that the necessary room may be got without making the chest so deep as to be in the way and catch against stones, tussocks, and lumps of turf on rough, coarse ground, when the dog is fully stretched in the gallop; the oblique shoulders enable the dog to throw his legs well forward and close together, thus enabling him to cover a lot of ground at each stride, and also, in connection with his long and supple neck, to throw himself through an astonishingly small meuse (gap in the hedge). The necessity for sufficient bone, big, strong joints, and muscular legs is apparent where such violent exertion is called for, and the roundish, compact foot is a necessity for speed.

The loins must be strong; a Greyhound weak there might be fast for a spurt, but he would prove merely flashy, being neither able to endure nor yet be good at his turns. When Markham says "short and strong fillets," he means the loin - the term being used in speaking of the horse - not the fleshy part of the thigh, which the term might seem to indicate. The hips must be wide asunder, and the hind legs straight as regards each other, "not crompyng as of an oxe" - that is, as we now express it, not cowhocked - but they must be bent or sicklehocked, and the thighs with immense and well-developed muscle. The same strength of muscular development is needed as in the fore legs, and especially there should be no weakness below the knee. The dog should stand rather wide behind, and higher than before ; the slight width gives additional propelling force, and the higher hindquarters additional speed and power in racing up hill, as hares invariably do, if they can, unless there is temptation of a covert near.

In respect of the tail, all agree that it should be long and fine; but, as a matter of fact, the latter term requires slight modification, as all tails are not of that fineness that usually obtains. The tail, no doubt, acts as a rudder, and as such must play an important part in swerving and turning.

Colour in Greyhounds should go for little; for although many persons have a prejudice in favour of a special fancy, experience proves that there are good of all. "Stonehenge" says the colours preferred are black, and red or fawn, with black muzzle ; and it may be worth notice that, in quoting him, "Idstone" falls into the singular mistake of saying that they should have red muzzles.

At the sale of the Greyhounds of that eminent courser Lord Rivers, in May, 1825, a list of which is given in Goodlake's "Courser's Manual," there were, out of fifty-two dogs, twenty-three all black, fourteen all blue, six red, four blue-and-white, and one all white. There are still many coursers who prefer the pure black or the red; but the following short list, taken from the Coursing Calendar, shows good Greyhounds of many different colours: Scotland Yet and her sons Canaradzo and Calioja were white; Cerito, fawn-and-white; Lobelia, brindled-and-white; Lady Stormont, black-and-white; Master M'Grath, black-and-white; Beacon, Blue Light, and Sapphire, all blue; High Idea, blue ticked; Bed of Stone, Bab at the Bowster, and Sea Cove, red; Cauld Kail, red ticked; Mocking Bird, Cashier, and Black Knight, all black; Landgravine, Elsecar, Herschel, and of course the mighty Fullerton, brindled.