Of the various breeds of hounds, none has undergone greater modifications than the Harrier or hare-hound, so called from his having been kept exclusively, or nearly so, to the pursuit of that game.

Caius describes him as ' that kind of dog which nature hath endued with the virtue of smelling, whose property it is to use a justness, a readiness, and a courageousness in hunting;" and further, "we may know these kind of dogs by their long, large, and bagging lips, by their hanging ears reaching down both sides of their chappes, and by the indifferent and measurable proportion of their making; this sort of dog we call Leverarius, Harriers."

Such a description, meagre as it is, applies more to the dog we still recognise as the old southern hound - if, indeed, that type has not been entirely improved out of existence - than to the harrier of to-day, for it is long since hare hunting was revolutionised, and the slow plodding hound that would dwell on the scent, giving vent to the keenness of his own enjoyment of the chase, and delighting the sportsman with melodious tongue whilst following puss in her every wile and double, has had to make way for the modern hound, possessing more dash and speed, which force the hare to depend on her swiftness rather than on cunning devices to evade her pursuers.

Harriers, like other classes of hounds, have been bred and varied to suit the requirements of the country they are hunted in and the taste and even whims of the owner. "Stonehenge," in his original work on the dog, says, "The true Harrier is a dwarf southern hound, with a very slight infusion of the greyhound in him." But I should think, to get the increased speed required, it would be unnecessary and unadvis-able to go to the greyhound for qualities to be obtained from a nearer ally - the light and fleet northern hound, which cross would not endanger or diminish the scenting power. Beckford, a sportsman and brilliant writer on sporting, whose opinions were, and still are, authoritative as far as applicable to the altered circumstances of our day, writing the end of last century, says:"The hounds I think most likely to show you sport are between the large slow hunting Harrier and the little fox beagle; the former are too dull, too heavy, and too slow - the latter too lively, too light, and too fleet. The first, it is true, have most excellent noses, and I make no doubt will kill their game at last if the day be long enough - but the days are short in winter, and it is bad hunting in the dark.

The other, on the contrary, fling and dash, and are all alive; but every cold blast affects them, and if your country be deep and wet, it is not impossible that some of them may be drowned. My hounds," he goes on to say, "were a cross of both these kinds, in which it was my endeavour to get as much bone and strength in as small a compass as possible. I tried many years and an infinity of hounds before I could get what I wanted, and at last had the pleasure to see them very handsome, small, yet very bony; they ran remarkably well together, went fast enough, had all the alacrity that could be desired, and would hunt the coldest scent."

The Harrier in most externals is almost a facsimile of the foxhound, but the head is in proportion heavier, the skull flat and broad, the ears set on low, being close and fine in texture; the "large and bagging lippes " of the days of Caius, with the attendant abundance of dewlap, have been bred out; the neck long and airy, rising with a gradual swell from the shoulders, which must be well placed, sloping back, and clothed with muscle; the forearms strong, elbows well let down and in a straight line with the body; the fore legs perfectly straight, large of bone, neat strong ankles, and a foot round, firm and close, the knuckles arched, but not immoderately so, the claws strong, and the sole firm and hard; the chest must be capacious; the back broad and strong, lined with hard muscle, the ribs, especially the back ones, well let down; the loin deep, and, like the hind quarters, very strong, the thighs very muscular, clean hocks, without a suspicion of "cromping" (that is, cow hocked, leaning in towards each other), and the leg from the hock down should be short and strong, the stern must be thick at the setting, and gradually tapering to the point; well covered with hair without being bushy, and carried gaily and almost straight.

The whole build of the Harrier is most symmetrical - there should be literally no waste about him. The coat should in texture be moderately fine, very dense, and the colour various, black, white and tan, blue mottles, badger pied, hare pied, and a variety of combinations, in which the colours are often very beautifully blended.

Delicacy of scent and perseverance are essential qualities in the Harrier, and the tongue should be rich and melodious.

Through the courtesy of the master of the Holcombe Hunt, Alfred Ashworth, Esq., of Egerton Hall, Bolton-le-Moors, I am enabled to give the measurements of one and a half couples of the Holcombe harriers - one couple of dogs and a single bitch. I have also been favoured with measurements of two of Mr. C. D. Everett's harriers, which I give below.

Sergeant: Age, 3 years; weight, 631b.; height at shoulder, 22in.; length from nose to set on of tail, 37in.; length of tail, 12½in.; girth of chest, 29in.; girth of loin, 21in.; girth of head 16¼in.; girth of forearm, 7½in.; length of head from occiput to tip of nose, 10½in.; girth of muzzle midway between eyes and tip of nose, 11in.

Swinger: Age, 3 years; weight, 621b.; height at shoulder, 22in. ; length from nose to set on of tail, 36½in.; length of tail, 13in.; girth of chest, 29½in.; girth of loin, 21in.; girth of head, 16iin.; girth of forearm, 7¾in.; length of head from occiput to tip of nose, 10in.; girth of muzzle midway between eyes and tip of nose, 10¼n.

Barmaid: Age, 4 years; weight, 561b.; height at shoulder, 21½in.; length from nose to set on of tail, 37in.; length of tail, 13in.; girth of chest, 27iin.; girth of loin, 22 ½in.; girth of head, 15 1/2in.; girth of forearm 7½in.; length of head from occiput to tip of nose, 10in.; girth of muzzle midway between eyes and tip of nose, 10in. These hounds have a pedigree for a hundred years back in the Holcombe Kennels.

Mr. Chas. Dundas Everett's Gladsome: Age, 2 years; weight, 34½lb.; height at shoulder, 19½in.; length from nose to set on of tail, 36in.; length of tail, 14in.; girth of chest, 27in.; girth of loin, 21in.; girth of head, 19in.; girth of forearm, 6½in.; length of head from occiput to tip of nose, l0in.; girth of muzzle midway between eyes and tip of nose, 10in.

Mr. Charles Dundas Everett's Glider: Age, 2 years; weight, 321b.; height at shoulder, 19½in.; length from nose to set on of tail, 36in.; length of tail, 12½in.; girth of chest, 27in.; girth of loin, 20in.; girth of head, 17in.; girth of forearm, 7in.; length of head from occiput to tip of nose, 10in.; girth of muzzle midway between eyes and tip of nose, 10in.

Lancashire is the home and centre of Harrier hunting, and the Holcombe pack is pure Harrier blood. Sergeant and Swinger are a wonderful pair, pronounced by competent judges to be the grandest couple of Harriers in Lancashire, which is about equivalent to saying in the world. The three are thoroughly representative and true made Lancashire Harriers, not too large, but strong, compact dogs, with plenty of lip and plenty of music, with still a nice clean neck, grand ribs, and low, good straight legs and cat feet, just the stamp to give a good account of themselves over the rough bleak hills of the country, where it is not a question of doubling round a few fields, but, after all the windings, of killing the game three or four miles as the crow flies from the find.