P.

PACE

—is an expression to signify the motion, or progressive action, of a horse, as well as one of the human species. When speaking of a man's pace, it is usual to say, he walks, he runs, or he goes a good pace; which becomes applicable to either, meaning, that he is an expeditious WALKER, a fleet RUNNER, or perhaps both. A horse has a great variety of PACES, as a walk, trot, amble, canter, gallop, rating-gallop, and at speed; some of which many horses have in great perfection, and are exceedingly deficient in others; as for instance, a horse shall be a most excellent TROTTER, who happens to be a shuffling, execrable WALKER; he shall be a gay, airy, light figure in a CANTER, and wonderfully deceptive in speed. Good GALLOPERS are very frequently bad TROTTERS; and perfection is very difficult to obtain.

Some years after the death of that famous horse Eclipse, which happened on the 27th of February, 1789, Mr. Charles Vial De Sainbel, Professor of the Veterinary College, published a work, to prove the unprecedented speed, and astonishing powers, of Eclipse, proceeded from the peculiarity of his construction. The work was embellished with ANATOMICAL, GEOMETRICAL, and MECHANICAL drawings, to establish and confirm an opinion, that the motion of the horse became proportionally accelerated, by the precise proportions of the subject geometrically described. The work itself was elaborate, sublime, and so remotely abstruse, that its contents were very superior to common comprehension; and as it communicated but trifling information, (and that founded upon conjecture,) it established no satisfactory data to engage public attention. Whatever was advanced upon the supposed effects of the geometrical proportions of Eclipse, would but ill apply to the action of the species in general; it being a fact well ascertained by those who are the most practically concerned, and personally interested, that ill-shaped horses of equal blood frequently exceed those of the fairest proportions; and that horses inferior in SIZE shall prove superior in SPEED.

PAD

—is a common rustic term for a GALLOWAY, or small horse.

PADDOCK

,—in earlier times, signified a PADDOCK enclosed with a wall or paling of an immense height, a mile in length, and a quarter of a mile broad, in which DEER were coursed with GREYHOUNDS, in the same manner as HARES are coursed at present, but with numerous variations in respect to the coursing rules now in use, These paddocks, from their great extent, were seldom seen, but in the ROYAL PARKS, or upon the demesnes of the most opulent and distinguished subjects. The sport itself has been a long time discontinued, and is most probably buried in oblivion; the word paddock applying, in the present time, only to a small enclosure of pasture, having a pale to protect it; or to a small tract of land, surrounding, or appertaining to, a rural mansion, where a few brace of FALLOW deer may be kept, but not of magnitude sufficient to acquire the appellation of a PARK.

PALATE

.—The entire roof of the horse's mouth, amongst FARRIERS and SMITHS, is generally distinguished by the simple unmeaning appellation of PALATE; the ridges crossing which are called the BARS: these, when they become too luxuriant and fleshy just behind the nippers, (the upper front teeth,) are then said to constitute a defect called the LAMPAS, which are reduced by repeated scarifications with a lancet, or extirpated by means of a red-hot iron, called the ACTUAL CAUTERY. (See Lampas.) In all cases of emergency, particularly upon inflammatory disorders, coming suddenly on in the night, when circumstances may render BLEEDING in the neck a matter of inconvenience, the operation may be instantly and expeditiously performed by lancet, bistoury, fleam, or even a common pen-knife, by passing either three or four times moderately across the bars, when the blood will be observed to flow most plentifully, and by being swallowed, is admitted by most of those who have attended to EFFECTS, to have been almost invariably attended with immediate advantage, particularly in the cholic, or a suppression of urine.

PALSY

—is a disorder, or rather a species of disorder, so nearly allied to the various degrees of staggers, apoplexy, or deprivation of sense, that the best Veterinary writers do not seem to have laid down any fixed rule, or unerring diagnostic, by which the discriminating shades, or predominant traits, of each are to be precisely ascertained. As the causes may be different of either, so the disorder may be more or less violent, according to the gradational excess of the cause. One attack of the species may arise from a too great and sensible flux of the blood to the brain, producing a severe and rapid inflammation: this, of course, might be introduced by extra exertions of continued speed, or in drawing loads of unreasonable weight; as well as from cruel and inhuman blows about the head; and from the two latter it is, that most of these disquietudes certainly proceed. Where the whole frame is affected, it is then natural to conclude the BRAIN is more particularly the SEAT of DISEASE, and that the whole system is from thence universally affected; but where the attack is partial, affecting only one limb and extremity, or any single part of the frame, it has then more the appearance of spasmodic affection, acting solely upon the muscles of the precise spot so far as they extend; and in the latter case, lay more readily open to a chance of relief by topical application, than where the entire frame and system is affected.

In the former, plentiful bleeding, followed by immediate hot fomentations, prepared from the various aromatic well-known garden herbs; succeeded by almost incessant friction with two able men, whose persevering efforts should alternately relieve each other; rubbing in occasionally stimulative embrocations of camphorated spirits, incorporated with essential oils; will frequently relieve in a very short space of time. In cases where the whole frame is affected, more reliance must be placed upon internal administrations; because the same means applicable to a single limb, or extremity, cannot be brought into perfect use with the whole. Bleeding, and persevering FRICTION, are as strictly proper in one as in the other; but the extreme irritability of the nervous system should be acted upon and reduced with all possible and proper expedition: camphire, assafœtida, and gum ammoniacum, a drachm each, blended with small proportions of opium, and formed into small balls, with a sufficient quantity of mithridate, or London philonium, should be introduced every three or four hours, till there is a termination of the case one way or the other. The ancient and well-founded axiom, that "dangerous diseases require desperate remedies," cannot be more completely verified than in the different species of this; where no hope or expectation of cure can be derived, but from indefatigable exertion, and the most patient perseverance.

PARK

,—in its plain construction, is an extensive tract of ground, or country, enclosed with WALL or PALING, well variegated with WOOD and WATER, for the support of cattle, and preservation of VENISON and GAME. It becomes a park by the privilege of prescription, or by the King's grant. There are many parks in possession of the Crown, (as well as of opulent individuals,) of which Windsor Great Park is the largest in the kingdom. It is upon record, that the Park of Woodstock was the first in England, formed and enclosed about the year 1124, and bounded by a stone wall seven miles in circumference. The example was followed by Henry Earl of Warwick; after which park-making became a common practice in different parts of the country.

PARTNER

.—There were five famous horses of this name in succession, from Old Partner, in 1718, to Little Partner, in 1745. The first was called Croft's; the second, Moore's; the third, Grisewood's; the fourth, Bright's; and the last, Pearson's. Old Partner was got by Jigg, out of a sister to Mixbury; he was a most excellent runner, and produced an astonishing progeny of winners; from whom his blood is ramified through most of the studs in the kingdom. He was sire of Sedbury, Tartar, Cato, Traveller, Badger, Grisewood's Partner, Little John, Larkin's Looby, Duke of Bolton's Little John, Barforth, the Witherington Mare, Vane's Little Partner, Parker's Lady Thigh, Grisewood's Lady Thigh, Lodge's Roan Mare, &c. &c.

PARTRIDGES

—are those well known timid, harmless, inoffensive branches of the feathered creation, the beautiful variegations of whose plumage, and the nutritive property of whose flesh, have entitled them to the distinguished appellation of GAME, and the honour of parliamentary protection. They begin to pair off from the fragmental remains of COVIES, about the last week in February, and through the month of March; make their nests upon the ground, in hedges, and the banks of hedge-rows principally; though they are sometimes found in fields of CLOVER, but very rarely in standing CORN. The hen usually deposits from fifteen to twenty eggs, and produces mostly a bird from every egg she lays. They hatch about the second or third week in June. The young in the aggregate are called COVIES, and they are known to run almost as soon as they are hatched. Although they are sometimes reduced by VERMIN, or unexpected torrents of rain, yet from SIX to EIGHT BRACE are generally brought up to fly with the old ones. They are included in every Act of Parliament for the preservation of the game; and the penalty for killing a partridge by any unqualified person, is FIVE POUNDS: if such unqualified person kills a partridge, without having taken out an ANNUAL CERTIFICATE from the Clerk of the Peace for the county in which he resides, (or where such partridge may have been killed,) he is then liable to a farther penalty of twenty pounds; making a forfeiture of TWENTY-FIVE POUNDS in the whole.

If a person qualified to kill game in right of his property, (that is, by inheritance of a FREEHOLD landed estate of the clear yearly value of ONE HUNDRED POUNDS per annum, or a LEASEHOLD of ONE HUNDRED and FIFTY in his own, or his WIFE'S right,) does so at any one time without having taken out an annual certificate as aforesaid, and for which the sum of THREE GUINEAS has been previously paid, he is then liable to a penalty of twenty-pounds. And any person qualified, or unqualified, killing any PARTRIDGE between the first of February and the first of September, in any year, is liable to an additional penalty of FIVE POUNDS to those already recited for each offence. It is natural to conceive, that the various modes of punishment annexed to a transgression of what are termed the GAME-LAWS, would have operated to a perfect and complete prohibition: that it may now have nearly reached the zenith of that effect by day, is admitted; but that a total suppression of the NOCTURNAL depredators can ever be accomplished, the annual destruction, and almost public sale, of game, leave very little reason to expect.

Partridges, in their natural and infant state, accompany the hen in search of food, obey the cluck of the mother, and are protected by the clutch of her wings, in the same manner as chicken, and other domestic fowl. The hen is so instinctively attached to her young, that she will encounter every difficulty, and face death in every form, to insure their safety: although stupidly timid, and rendered almost insensible by her own fears, upon other occasions, yet great sagacity is observable in her endeavours to preserve her offspring. When they are very young, and unable to save themselves by flight; and in all cases of danger, when approached by that fatal enemy the dog; the hen will rise, and lead him on, by short flights, or rather hoverings, of twenty and thirty yards, but just above the ground, till, having induced him to follow a sufficient distance from the seat of all her fears, she takes a long, and more circuitous route at her next flight; where, after finding she has completely baffled her pursuer, another effort brings her to her young in safety. When separated by danger (whether the approach of the dog and gun in the sporting season, or by other means) even to a great distance, they are invariably brought again together by the inherent property of CALLING, which they possess in so powerful a degree, as to insure a very expeditious recovery of each other. The imitation of this call has been brought to great perfection by the fraternity of POACHERS, who avail themselves of the birds' too great credulity, which is frequently the cause of their destruction.

PASTERN

.—The pastern of a horse is the distance between the fetlock and the coronet, which terminates at the junction of hair and hoof. The pastern should be short, strong, and uniform; when long, it is proportionally weak; and the nearer the fetlock is to the ground, the more liable such horse is to be let down in the back sinews, and become lame.

PATTEN-SHOE

—was a shoe formerly used with lame horses; but from the palpable absurdity of its adoption, seems now to be nearly banished from modern practice. This shoe was constructed with a ring, circular, or nearly oval, at the bottom, which being fixed upon the SOUND foot, its intentional use was to compel the horse in all injuries to stand upon the lame leg, that a contraction of the muscular parts might be prevented. Happily such ridiculous and ill-founded notions are gliding into oblivion.

PATTERN-SHOE

—is a shoe formed upon rational principles, and of a scientific construction, for transmission to any part of the world, as a PATTERN by which the ART of SHOEING may be universally improved, and reduced to one general standard of purity and perfection.

PEDIGREE

.—The pedigree (or genealogical descent) of a horse is in the present day so fabricated by hearsay, or framed by fiction, that nothing less than a well-authenticated certificate, under the hand of the BREEDER, can with propriety be received as an indisputable proof of the PURITY of his BLOOD: and this is the more evidently necessary to a SPORTSMAN, lest he should be induced (relying upon his deceptive pedigree) to enter into a racing engagement, and that too, perhaps, for a sum of much magnitude; the whole of which, with the additional training expences, might be lost for want of that very blood he has been villainously taught to believe he has got in possession. To such an enthusiastic pitch has the desire of pedigree attained, under the fashionable sporting phrenzy of the time, that a horse is absolutely considered of neither value or utility, unless his pedigree is properly attested, and he is known to "carry the catalogue of his endowments by his side." The DEALERS (as well as others) are so well aware of this partiality for blood and pedigree, that every common roadster has the report of his get ready prepared, and no purchaser need be without it. Upon the subject of authenticated pedigrees, for near a century past, Mr. Weatherby's Stud Book is, beyond a doubt, the first publication extant.

The great merit and CREDIT of a PEDIGREE, consists in its continued and undivided chain of proofs on the distinct sides of both SIRE and DAM, up to such links as are eminently connected with the known authority, where no contamination could have taken place. A pedigree of one single descent is amply sufficient, where the reference terminates on each side, in a SIRE and DAM, whose pedigrees and performances are previously known. Instance: Jupiter was got by Eclipse, dam by Tartar; he is own brother to Mercury, Venus, and Volunteer; sire of Cardock, Halkin, Thunderbolt, Confederacy, Terror, Contest, &c.

PHEASANT

.—The pheasant is not only the most beautiful bird in plumage of any bred in this kingdom, but the first in estimation; not more for the sport it affords in the field, than its delicious attraction for the table. They are about one fourth less in size than common poultry, lay nearly the same number of eggs, and bring up their young in the same manner. They principally frequent the WOODS and hedge-rows, are seldom found in the fields, and then but very rarely far from covert: when upon WING, they are so exceedingly slow in flight, that he must be an exceeding bad marksman who does not HIT his BIRD. The pheasant is included in every successive Act for the preservation of the game; and although they are less liable than HARES and PARTRIDGES to the destructive depredations of the POACHERS, they suffer considerably by FOXES, MARTERNS, POLE-CATS, and other vermin.

Persons of every description, qualified and unqualified, stand exactly in the same state with respect to PHEASANTS as with PARTRIDGES, so lately described under that head, but with this difference in the legal season for taking or killing: it is enacted by two distinct legislative Acts of the present reign, That any person who shall, under any pretence whatever, take, kill, destroy, carry, fell, buy, or have in his possession, any PHEASANT, between the first day of February and the first day of October, (unless such pheasant shall have been taken in the proper season, and kept in a mew or breeding-place,) shall forfeit FIVE POUNDS for every PHEASANT so taken, to be paid to the informer, with full costs of suit.

PHÆNOMENON

—was one of the most celebrated sons of Herod, both as a RACER and a STALLION. He was bred by Sir J. Kaye, and foaled in 1780; was got by Herod, dam (Frenzy) by Eclipse, grand-dam by Engineer, out of Lass of the Mill, who was got by Traveller. His performances upon the turf so strictly corresponded with his name, that the infinity of mares brought to him in the first seasons of his covering, afforded him an opportunity of adding to his reputation in a degree almost beyond former example. He covered in Yorkshire at 10 guineas a mare, and in 1791 produced the following winners: Lord A. Hamilton's Chesnut Colt, who won two fifties; Freeholder, who won 100 guineas at York, and a 50 at Stockton; Mongrel, who won 25 guineas at Lewes; Pigeon, who won 200 guineas at York, 50 at Manchester, 50 at Wakefield, 50 at Boroughbridge, and 50 at Northallerton; Roman, 140 guineas at York; Rosalind, 700 guineas, and 300 guineas, at York, 300 guineas at Doncaster, and 50l. at New Malton; and Stride, 600 guineas at York.

In 1792, Lord A. Hamilton's Brown Colt, 120 guineas at Doncaster, and 50l. at Penrith; Charactacus, 50l. at Tenbury; Comet, 50 at York, 50 at Hull, and two 50's at New Malton; Forester, 50 at Carlisle; Freeholder, 50 at Durham; Heroine, 300 guineas at Newmarket, 100 guineas and 50 at ditto; Huby, 400 guineas and 50l. at York, 50l. and 50 guineas at Carlisle, and 100l. at Doncaster; Lizard, 50l. at Preston; Pigeon, 50l. at Catterick Bridge; Rosalind, 150 guineas at York, the King's Plate, and 50l. at Lincoln; Squirrel, 125 guineas at York, 160 at Wakefield, and 100 guineas at Doncaster.

In 1793, Comet won 80 guineas, the Stand Plate, and the King's Plate, at York; Heroine, the Queen's Plate at Chelmsford, the King's Plate and 70 guineas at Lincoln; Huby, 400 guineas at Newmarket, 175 guineas and 295l. at York; Messenger, 50l. at Manchester; Restless, 50l. at York, 100 guineas at Preston, and the King's Plate at Carlisle. In 1795, Ambush, 50 guineas at Wakefield; Charmer, 50l. at Catterick Bridge, 50l. at Lamberton, and 50 guineas at Stockton; Gay Deceiver, 300 guineas at Doncaster; Heroine, 50l. and 50 guineas at Newmarket, and the King's Plate at Lincoln; Huby, two 50's at Stockton, and the King's Plate at Dumfries; Sheperdess, 100 guineas at York.

To these excellent runners, in the successive years have been added Laura, Roseberry, Caroline, Bellissima, Wonder, Stella, Stripling, Tartar, Hyale, Jupiter, (Mr. Hawke's,) and many others who won large stakes as COLTS and FILLIES, but were never named.

PHYSIC

—is a term sometimes given (particularly in the country) to every kind of MEDICINE that can be administered to either MAN or HORSE: the more polished and general acceptation confines it solely to the operation of PURGING, in which sense alone it can be properly understood. It is but a few years (since the appearance of "The Gentleman's Stable Directory,") that the general necessity for, and palpable utility of, occasionally PHYSICING HORSES, became almost universally admitted. Its salutary effects stand, however, upon too firm a basis to be again shaken by the obtrusion of speculative opinions: there are but few, if any, remaining, who will presume to arraign or challenge the consistency of annually cleansing full thirty yards of the intestinal canal, replete with INTERSTICES, and appropriated to little other purpose than the excretion of filth.

Physic is prepared of different proportions, and of different ingredients, according to the purposes for which it may be designed. If only to soften and remove the accumulated contents of the bowels, and prevent PLETHORA, and its probable effects, the MILDEST degree will be sufficient. If the carcase is evidently enlarged, the vessels perceptibly distended, the horse dull, heavy, and inactive, a STRONGER must be brought into use. In cutaneous diseases, SWELLED LEGS of long standing, tendency to GREASE, old obstinate COUGHS and WORMS, mercurial physic had better be adopted; letting the extra care be proportioned to the mildness or severity of the season in which it is given. Under judicious and proper management, there is no more danger in the operation of MERCURIAL than in any other physic, provided it is faithfully prepared, and of the proportions by which safety is in a great degree to be insured; but if given in immoderate quantities, and little attended to during the progress of its operation, danger and death may probably ensue. Neither one, or the other, are, however, known to happen, where a proper degree of circumspection is used by those whose business it is to superintend the subordinates.

PICKER

.—A horse-picker is a small iron instrument, so truly convenient upon many emergencies, that a prudent traveller, or experienced sportsman, is hardly ever seen without one annexed to the handle of a knife which he carries in his pocket: its use is to extract stones, pebbles, or flints, from the bottom of the foot, when they are picked up in hunting, or upon the road. They are sometimes so firmly fixed between the inner edge of the SHOE and the FROG, that nothing but very violent force with a hammer can remove them; in such cases, horses are sometimes led a considerable distance to some dwelling-house, before the stone can be extracted; and the foot is probably bruised, or sustains a serious injury, for what might be obtained at a trifling expence, and carried with little inconvenience.

PIGEONS

—are the well-known domestic birds, of which there are only TWO sorts entitled to attention here, as affording equally nutritious support for the frame, but neither calculated to excite sport in the field, or emulative attraction in their destruction. The two different kinds are distinguished under the denomination of WILD and TAME; the former are bred in COTES and DOVE-HOUSES, (such as are seen at the rustic mansions of the great, and at large farms in open countries;) the latter in less numbers upon a smaller scale, and in receptacles of smaller construction, affixed to out-offices, barns, stables, or upon a pedestal; in either of which situations, they have their provision mostly before them. The WILD or dove-house pigeons, as they are called, breed only once a year generally; though there are many in the same flock who produce a second, or what is termed a harvest or autumn flight. Those called TAME pigeons, who are still more domesticated, have a greater degree of fecundity, and continue to breed a pair every month or five weeks during the year, except the three most severe and dreary months of winter.

For the protection of this species of property against the wanton attacks of the idle and ill-designing, it is enacted, by the 2d of George the Third, c. xxix. That any person who shall shoot at, or by any means kill or take, with a wilful intent to destroy, any PIGEON, he shall, on conviction thereof, by confession, or oath of one witness, before one Justice, forfeit 20s. to the prosecutor; and if not immediately paid, such Justice shall commit him to the house of correction, for any term not exceeding three months, nor less than one, unless the penalty be sooner paid. Persons who are convicted on this Act, shall not be convicted on any former Act; and prosecutions under this must be commenced within TWO MONTHS after the offence was committed.

PIGEON-SHOOTING

—is a sport principally resorted to at that season of the year when guns are laying dormant, and game of every other kind is, by the privilege of Parliament, permitted to enjoy its rest. Pigeon-shooting is a match between two individuals, or any fixed number on each side, and is decided by one, or the other, killing the greatest NUMBER of PIGEONS within an equal number of shots. The match made, and the place agreed on where it is to be decided, the dove-house pigeons are provided in proportion to the parties who stand engaged to shoot; of which there are generally four, five, or six, on each side; and as every individual feels disposed to shoot at least five or six times, less than eight or ten dozen are hardly ever procured for the occasion.

Previous to the commencement of the match, an open spot is fixed on, agreeable to the arbitrators, one appointed by each side; here TWENTY YARDS are measured with accuracy, and both extremities correctly marked. At one end a hole is made in the earth, in which is deposited a small box, about eight inches deep, six inches wide, and a foot long; its surface two inches above the level of the ground, with a sliding-lid running in a groove: to the front of this lid is affixed a string, or small cord, of one or two-and-twenty yards in length, which extended, will reach a little beyond the precise distance of twenty yards, where each of the parties concerned will afterwards stand to shoot. The preliminaries adjusted of having taken the toss, to determine which side is to take the lead, and all parties ready, a PIGEON is lodged in the BOX, and the runner (as he is called) resuming his post, by the side of the person whose turn it is to shoot, he is there ready to pull the STRING annexed to the SLIDER, and give liberty to the bird, the moment he is ordered by the SHOOTER so to do. It is a fixed rule, that the GUN is never to be advanced to the SHOULDER till the bird is upon wing; this is to be decided (as well as every other cause of dispute) by the persons appointed; and every pigeon so shot at, must fall to the ground within ONE HUNDRED YARDS of the BOX, or it is not admitted a BIRD KILLED, but a shot missed. The first person having shot, (hit or miss,) he is succeeded by one of the opposite side; and they continue to shoot in alternate rotation till the match is decided according to the original terms upon which it was made, in respect to the number of pigeons to be shot at by each distinct party, when those who kill the most are declared the winners, and entitled to the stakes made.

PILOT

.—There have been three horses of this name; two of which were excellent racers, and esteemed equal, as plate horses, to any of their time. The first was bred by Sir Charles Bunbury; foaled in 1762; got by Snap, dam by Cade, grand-dam by Crab, out of Lord Portmore's Abigail. The second was bred by Sir H. Harpur; foaled in 1770; got by Dainty Davy, dam by Blanck, grand-dam (Dizzy) by the famous and original Driver. The third was bred by the late Counsellor Lade; foaled in 1782, and got by the above, dam by Marske, grand-dam by Regulus. The two last won a great number of fifty-pound plates annually for several years in succession, and afterwards proved very excellent country stallions.

PLAY or PAY

,—a description of BET so made. Whether the subject of such bet be MAN or HORSE; the object a race, or a boxing match; either party being present at the time and place appointed, ready to perform their part of the engagement previously entered into; the other not appearing, or appearing, and then and there refusing to enter into the contest, upon the event of which the article or bet was originally formed, can lay no claim whatever to the stakes deposited; and the holder stands justified in handing such stakes over to the WINNER, having sufficient evidence in justification on his own part, to prove that it was bona fide a "PLAY or PAY" bet.

PLAY or PAY

,—the name of a horse of much recent and racing celebrity, the property of Mr. Durand. He was bred by Mr. Parker, and got by Ulysses out of Tiffany's dam. In 1794, at three years old, (in the name of Mars,) he won 50l. at Epsom, beating six others. At Stockbridge, a sweepstakes of 10 guineas each, nine subscribers. At Winchester he walked over the Course for a sweepstakes of 20 guineas each, eight subscribers. In 1795, when four years old, he beat Mr. Turner's Tim Tartlet, two miles for 200 guineas. The next day he beat Mr. Cauty's Alderman, two miles for 50 guineas. He won also 50l. at Guildford; a sweepstakes of 15 guineas each at Stockbridge, seven subscribers: the next day a sweepstakes of 10 guineas each, six subscribers. At Winchester, a sweepstakes of 10 guineas each, eight subscribers. At Egham he walked over for a sweepstakes of 10 guineas each, five subscribers. The next day he won a 50l. plate, beating Pandolpho and Serpent. In 1796, when five years old, he won the Craven stakes, of 10 guineas each, at Newmarket, beating eleven others. 50l. at Ascot Heath. In 1797, then six years old, he won 50l. at Epsom, beating five others. 50l. at Lewes, beating Gohanna and Keren-happuch. 50l. at Abingdon, beating Keren-happuch, Paroquet, and Roland. In consequence of having been so hard run for FOUR years in succession, he started SEVEN times in 1798 without once winning. In 1799, he won 50l. at Epsom, beating Yeoman and Midnight. 50l. at Guildford, beating Mr. Lade's David, and two others; and 50l. at Egham, beating Lord G. Cavendish's horse by Jupiter; after which he was purchased by Mr. Dashwood, in whose possession, at nine years old, in 1800, he beat Mr. Whaley's Post Boy, four miles over Ascot, for 100 guineas, and walked over at Egham for a sweepstakes of 20 guineas each, three subscribers: after which he appeared no more on the turf.

PLEURISY

—is a disorder in the horse so nearly allied to an INFLAMMATION of the LUNGS, that probably the most judicious and experienced Veterinarian would not, without much difficulty, be enabled to distinguish between one and the other. The predominant symptoms are sudden and violent: he first becomes heavy, dull, and oppressed; soon shews great difficulty of respiration, pants exceedingly; is distressed with an almost incessant painful endeavour to cough: the mouth continues, from the commencement of the attack, hot, parched, and dry: at this time he is exceedingly restless, frequently laying down, and as suddenly rising; but as the disorder advances, he stands in his stall so overwhelmned with fever, pain, and bodily oppression, that he displays no wish or desire to vary his position, but stands fixed in one posture, resigned to his fate. As the disease approaches nearer its crisis, a slimy saliva appears in the mouth, and a ropy viscid discharge from the nostrils. This being one of the disorders so rapid in its progress, and so destructive in its effects, as sometimes to set all efforts to relieve at defiance, every necessary means of counteraction should be most expeditiously adopted upon the first discovery of the attack.

It is in general produced by some sudden and powerful revulsion; as an instantaneous change from heat to cold, in which the perspiration becomes so severely checked by a collapsion of every pore, that NATURE sustains a shock, productive of almost immediate and perceptible morbidity. Journies of speed, and afterwards standing still in cold rains, or sharp winds, as well as being supplied with water when in a high state of PERSPIRATION, are probably the principal causes from which the disorder is mostly known to arise. The direct road to cure is too plain and unequivocal to admit of different opinions. Bleeding, and that both largely and repeatedly, must be submitted to, if circumstances require it; no hope of relief can be expected without it. It is no uncommon thing to bleed a horse four or five times in as many days, and his recovery to be justly attributed to that important mode of subduing inflammation. Gruel, impregnated with small quantities of NITRE and GUM ARABIC, should be the common drink. Mashes, of ground malt and bran, should be placed in the manger boiling hot, that the head, throat, and glands, may derive every possible advantage from FUMIGATION, to assist in taking off the pulmonary stricture, and promoting a plentiful discharge from the nostrils, which is one of the leading proofs that the disease has reached its crisis, and may be considered the first indicative expectancy of recovery. In the greatest bodily debility, when no food is taken, a cordial ball, dissolved in gruel, should be given (with a horn in small quantities at a time) twice a day. Equal parts of the wort squeezed from the malt, and good clean-boiled sweet gruel, should be patiently held before the horse twice or thrice in every hour for some minutes: from the great internal heat, he is frequently induced to swallow a quart or two at each time; although, if offered and taken away in haste, he might invariably decline it. It is only by such persevering attention, both NIGHT and DAY, any expectation of cure can be entertained.

PLUMAGE

.—The feathers upon every kind of fowl, wild or tame, is so termed: if speckled, or interspersed with different streaks, or opposite lights and shades, it is then called variegated plumage. If a GAME COCK is bred perfectly WHITE, he is called a SMOCK.

POACHERS

—are those determined destructive nocturnal depredators, by whom the game is so shamefully reduced in opposition to all LAW, and defiance of all ORDER, from one extremity of the kingdom to the other. This head cannot be better elucidated, than by transcribing literally, from the recent work of a writer of much celebrity, his judicious remarks upon the subject.

"It is, perhaps, among that description of persons well known by the name of poachers, that the greater number of those are trained to rapine, who infest every rural neighbourhood with their petty thefts, and whose dexterity almost bids defiance to precaution. Accustomed, in the ensnaring of game, to the secresy of fraud, and committing their depredations amidst the silence of night, those horrors, and that consequent dread, which frequently deters from the commission of great offences, gradually lose their effect. Solitude and darkness, which have wherewithal to appal the human mind in its first deviations into guilt, are divested of their terror in those pilfering pursuits; and the consequence is sufficiently well known to all, who, in the capacity of magistrates, are called to sit in judgment on the delinquency of public offenders. It is to this initiation they ascribe their subsequent enormities.

"When guilt, however venal, becomes, by repetition, familiar to the mind, it is not in the power of the ignorant and uneducated to restrain its excesses; they cannot arrest their career of iniquity; they cannot chalk out the line of wrong beyond which they will not pass. Confining their first nocturnal excursions to the snaring of HARES, and netting of PARTRIDGES, whenever they have a less booty than usual, they are tempted to compensate the deficiency by petty plunder of some other kind, and the log-pile, the stack, the fold, the hen-roost, all in turn, pay tribute to the prowling vagabond, who fills as he can that void in his "capacious bag," which has been left by his want of success as a POACHER.

"The great evil is, that a culprit of this class, feeling no compunction in the early stage of his guilt, proceeds carelessly to a state of the most complete degeneracy. Game is a species of property of which he has so indistinct a conception, that he scarcely thinks he has committed a moral injustice in the various stratagems by which he has contrived to obtain it; he sees not that the claim of a stranger is better than his; he knows not whence that absolute right in another to that which he has taken is derived; his companions, to whom he recounts his manœuvres, are more likely to applaud his cunning than to reprove his crime. Thus the remorse of conscience being but slight and feeble in the outset, the wretch is encouraged by degrees to trample on the laws with greater boldness, and at last suffers as a FELON."

That these facts are fairly stated, and the natural inferences judiciously drawn, must be candidly and universally admitted. Previous, however, to the conclusive remarks requisite under this head, it becomes directly applicable to introduce a few passages from another writer of equal eminence, who, in his animadversion upon the well-founded principle of the GAME LAWS, observes, "that, in a highly cultivated, well-peopled country, no animal can properly be considered as wild; all are supported by the property and labour of those who cultivate the soil. Some, from their peculiar instincts, are, indeed, less capable than others of being appropriated, and therefore, like lands uninclosed, are held as a joint property. But he who has no land, and consequently contributes nothing to their maintenance, is no more entitled to any use of them, than the inhabitant of one parish is to a right of commonage on the waste lands of another; and he who chuses to reside in a town, and to keep his property in money, has no more a pretence to seize to his own use a HARE, or a PARTRIDGE, than a sheep or a goose, from him who has chosen to vest his property in land. In the former, as in the latter case, he ought to tempt the owner to sell what is wanted."

Thus much is introduced from the speculative opinions of respectable writers upon the political and equitable basis of the GAME LAWS, which every rational observer, and good subject, will probably admit ought to be obeyed; although the great and infinite body of POACHERS, and that much greater infinity their ABETTORS, seem to be of a direct opposite opinion. However just, proper, and political, such laws may have been in their formation, and laudable in their continuance, little reliance can be placed upon the deceptive expectation of a reduction in the number of POACHERS, sanctioned and supported, as they are, by thousands in the Metropolis, and the middle classes of people in every CITY, TOWN, and VILLAGE, from one extremity of the Island to the other. If there is one of his Majesty's subjects so weak or inexperienced, as to suppose any one species of game is difficult to be obtained, he must be deplorably ignorant in the common occurrences of life, and requires to be informed, that the wholesale art and trade of poaching is carried on almost "as public as the noonday sun" during the whole of the season; and no one of that commercial and opulent body in the city, or epicure in the suburbs, sits down without game at his table whenever he pleases to order it: it is not the business of a steward, butler, or housekeeper, to expostulate upon what may be immediately obtained for MONEY, with a consolatory verification of the school-boy's well-known adage, that "one good turn deserves another;" and money in one hand can invariably procure game for the other.

There have always been two opinions held respecting the policy and prudence of the Game Laws, between two classes of people equally opposite to each other, the HIGHEST and the lowest; in support of which, it has been the persevering practice of the former, to enact laws for the protection of what they conceive their RIGHT; and the latter have been as invariably engaged (from one generation to another) in devising plans to counteract and undermine it: thus the cunning of one is engaged in a perpetual war with the POWER of the other, and most probably centuries only can ascertain the victory. Here the eye of impartiality will naturally advert to a passage from a writer lately quoted who is of opinion, that "a person having no land, and who chooses to keep his property in money, has no more right to a HARE or PARTRIDGE, than he has to the sheep or goose, from him who has chosen to vest his property in LAND." This writer, probably, in his hasty zeal to exalt the LANDED interest above its proper weight in the scale of WEALTH, had totally forgotten (or never knew) that great national depositary of immensity, called the Bank of England, situate in the City of London; the millions eternally in motion through the medium of COMMERCE, and moving in all directions, to every quarter of the globe; as well as the East and West India possessions, to an extent of riches beyond conception.

All these, to gratify the self-importance of the holders of a little land, the learned writer had found it convenient to bury in oblivion. Sir Roger de Coverley would most probably have said, (could he have been at this moment consulted upon the subject,) "Much may be said on BOTH sides." In saying which, he would have spoken wisely; for it cannot be conceived, that every individual of the infinity of STOCK-HOLDERS, who loyally place an implicit faith in the stability of Government, and embark all their property to support it, (in many instances from FIVE to FIFTY or a HUNDRED THOUSAND pounds each,) does not feel himself equally affected with the appetites of a GENTLEMAN, as he who possesses 100l. a year in LAND; and not feeling more disposed to sacrifice at the shrine of SELF-DENIAL than his neighbour, finds it necessary to avail himself of all the comforts and advantages to be derived from his MONEY, that the other does from his LAND; under which candid and impartial consideration it is fair to conclude, that so long as there shall be a natural propensity to good living, and the delicacies which Providence has so plentifully bestowed; so long as the monied THOUSANDS of the Metropolis shall incline to believe they are entitled to a participation; and so long as GAME shall be bred, and human degeneracy in the lower classes of society continue; so long will POACHERS continue undiminished, in opposition to every means that the utmost limits of human wisdom can suggest for their extirpation.

POINT

.—A horse standing in his stall, or elsewhere, with one fore-leg at some distance before the other, is always concluded, by the most experienced, to have sustained some irreparable injury either in the SHOULDER, or the ligamentary junction of the COFFIN and CORONARY bones, concealed in the box (or cavity) of the hoof. This is in a considerable degree to be relied on; but there are many instances in which a horse accustoms himself to awkward positions, and they become habitual: some stand with either the near or the off fore-leg eternally before the other, and are as perfectly sound as any horses in the kingdom. To say, therefore, from a horse's manner of standing, that he is lame, would be as absurd as to say any man could not be either a good dancer, or fencer, because he stood, when disengaged from both, in a careless, lounging, ungraceful attitude.

POINT

—is the position of a POINTER, when standing seemingly fixed and immoveable at the game before him; at the moment of observing which, particularly with young or unsteady dogs, the natural ejaculatory caution of "To ho!" "Have a care!" transpires; not more as an injunction of steadiness to the dog standing, but as a communicative mode of enjoining the attention of every dog in the field to the first who has obtained the point.

POINTER

.—The pointer is that species of dog well known to contribute more to the contemplative pleasures and pursuits of a sportsman, than any other in the canine catalogue. This peculiar breed, on account of their universality and general utility, have been so incredibly crossed, re-crossed, bred in, and bred out, to gratify the various opinions, (as prompted by fancy, caprice, or speculation,) that they are now to be found of all sizes, and all qualifications; from the slow, short-headed, heavy-shouldered remains of the original Spanish pointer, (who will tire in half a day's work,) to the cross of in and in with a FOX HOUND, of which none are ever known to tire; many of them having speed enough to catch a leveret three parts grown, when they jump up before them. Pointers, forty or fifty years since, were hardly ever seen but entirely white, or variegated with liver-coloured spots; except the then Duke of Kingston's black and white, which were considered superior to every breed in the kingdom, and sold for most extravagant sums after his death. They are now, from the constantly increasing attachment to field sports, to be seen of every description, from pure white, and a flea-bitten blue or grey, to a universal liver-colour, and a perfect black. In a choice of pointers for general use, that is for every species of GAME, the extremes in size, as well as in speed, are better avoided, and the line of mediocrity adhered to: overgrown, heavy dogs, soon get weary in the hot and early part of the season: the smaller sort have also their inconveniencies in hunting in very high turnips, heath, broom-fields, &c.

As some advantages have been obtained by the various crosses, both in respect to speed, and the durability of fatigue, so something has been sacrificed on the score of patient forbearance, and olfactory sensibility; the gradational shades of one species introduced by every change having so diversified the original stock, that a much greater degree of trouble is requisite in breaking now than formerly, to bring a POINTER of perfection into the field. The impatient volatility of some men probably prompted them to indulge a design of introducing a breed of pointers, with speed sufficient to outstrip the rapidity of their own imaginations, that they might enjoy the unprecedented and supreme felicity of hunting and shooting at the same time; hence, perhaps, arose the emulative struggle for a superiority of speed in addition to POINT, which, it must be acknowledged, has at length reached the very summit of perfection. Pointers are never considered complete, unless they are perfectly staunch to "BIRD, DOG, and GUN;" which implies, first, standing singly to a bird or a covey; secondly, to backing (or pointing instantaneously likewise) the moment he perceives another dog to STAND; and lastly, not to stir from his point, upon the firing of any gun in company, provided the GAME is neither sprung or started at which he made his original point.

The art of breaking pointers for the field, was, twenty or thirty years since, looked upon as a very mysterious and difficult piece of business; many (called dog-breakers) deriving a subsistence from the employment: the charm, however, has been long since broken, and the process is known to be so exceedingly simple, that a tolerable well-bred pointer puppy may have the foundation of all his future perfections theoretically inculcated in the VERY KITCHEN or PARLOUR of his MASTER, before he is taken into the field. This is so truly and practically possible, that it may be done with two or three brace together in a large room, or small yard, with no other assistance, than the alternate words of "TO-HO!" "TAKE HEED!" and "HAVE A CARE!" (with the small field whip in hand to impress attention,) although meat is tossed before them in every direction; when not a dog will stir till the signal of "HIE-ON" is heard, which they eagerly obey; but are as instantly stopped at the very moment of seizing their meat, by either of the cautions previously mentioned. Young dogs, having thus imbibed the principles upon which they are to act, have nature, and their instinctive impulse, to point out their practice when brought into the field: few are seen who hunt too little, the major part are inclined to range too much, and then it is that the cool and steady patience of the experienced sportsman becomes necessary to check the impetuosity. Juvenile gunners frequently spoil young dogs, by keeping them under as little restraint as they wish to be kept themselves; and too often let them break away out of all reasonable distance, till they acquire a habit of inattention and disobedience, of which some are with very great difficulty, if ever, divested.

When brought into the field, they should be taught to traverse every yard of the ground, (in proper lengths, and at proper distances,) so that none be left unbeaten; and this should be done with as few words, and as little noise, as possible. Short verbal signals, low vibrative whistles, and the motion of the hand to the right or left, are all that's useful; more does mischief: one steady shot of this description, with a brace of pointers obedient to command, and staunch to DOG and GUN, will kill more game in any country, than a noisy crew with three or four brace of dogs before them. All young pointers should not be permitted to deviate from the proper rule of quartering the ground before them; that is, to cover a line of fourscore yards transversely in the front of his master, taking forty yards to his right, and re-passing him, take the same distance to the left; and in such proportions as not to let his crossings and re-crossings be more than five-and-twenty or thirty yards from each other. If a brace of pointers are in the field, they should alternately cross the same beat, by meeting and passing each other; but never beat the same way in a parallel direction.

Those who wish pointers to bring the GAME when killed, will find it very easy of attainment, by teaching them to fetch and carry before they take the field; it is an amusement they are much delighted with, and never forget: it has, however, one chance of inconvenience annexed to the experiment, if they become hard-mouthed, and take to breaking both flesh and feather; it is a fault, or rather a crime, never obliterated, but with incessant trouble and severity. It is a practice with some to hunt their pointers in coverts, with bells about their necks, both in COCK and PHEASANT shooting; those who do it, hold their pointers (at least their excellence) in very slender estimation, as it invariably reduces their speed; renders them slow, tardy, undisciplined, and inclined to hang and puzzle, by constantly drawing upon the foot of the pheasant, or upon a hare in covert, when one happens to start before them; in a persevering pursuit of which, high-spirited dogs, full of blood, are subject to fits, and of long duration: cutting off half an inch of the tail, or bleeding in the roof of the mouth, is the only extemporaneous remedy in the field. Previous to the beginning of the season, that is, a fortnight before the commencement, each dog should have two doses of physic about four days apart; after which proper attention should be paid to the provision, which should be of a sweet and healthy kind, to preserve as much as possible their faculties in full perfection. From the hardness and heat of the ground in the first weeks of September, it sometimes happens, that the feet become lacerated, inflamed, and exceedingly sore; when which is observed, a plentiful washing, with warm gruel and a sponge, will afford considerable relief; in an hour or two after which, the application of some weak salt and water, or cold white-wine vinegar, will harden the surface, and probably prevent a repetition.

POLE-CAT

.—The pole-cat is a species of vermin, partaking, in some degree, of the figure and propensities of the MARTIN and the FERRET; or rather between both. It is smaller than the one, and considerably larger than the other; is an inhabitant of the bushy coverts in the neighbourhood of lonely farm-houses; to the POULTRY, EGGS, and DOVE-HOUSES, of which they are constant and destructive enemies. The effluvia, or rather stench, arising from their bodies is so truly offensive, that it has long since laid the foundation of the well-known proverbial expression of "stinking like a POLE-CAT."

POLL-EVIL

,—in its first stage, is a tumefaction formed upon the poll of a horse immediately behind the ears, and is, in general, occasioned by a blow, bruise, or, perhaps, sometimes by the heavy weight and constant pressure of old harsh, stubborn harness-halters; as it is a kind of casual defect, or misfortune, with which only draught-horses are known to be much affected. Upon its discovery, when in an early state, repulsion may be attempted by mild restringents, as a few minutes patient fomentation with HOT VINEGAR and a sponge, followed by a slight application of CAMPHORATED SPIRITS; not evidently submitting to which at a third or fourth repetition, but continuing to increase, and display symptoms of impending maturation, those appearances must be immediately encouraged by proper means, and every attempt at repulsion instantly discontinued. Hot fomentations with gruel, immediately succeeded by emollient poultices of linseed powder, milk, and a small quantity of turpentine well incorporated; or bread, milk, and white lily root, bruised to a paste, and applied of a proper warmth, are the best modes of expediting suppuration; when which takes place, no small share of Veterinary knowledge, and professional punctuality, is requisite to obtain a sound and perfect cure.

POMONA

.—There have been three well-bred mares of this name: the first bred by Lord Clermont, foaled in 1769, got by Squirrel, dam by Young Cade, grand-dam by Rib, out of Grisewood's Lady Thigh. The second was bred by the late Duke of Cumberland, foaled in 1775, got by Herod, dam by Snap, grand-dam by Regulus. This mare was the dam of several runners, including Nina, Spear, Gardener, and Halbert. The third was bred by Mr. O'Kelly, foaled in 1783, got by Vertumnus out of Helen, (who was got by South,) the dam of Paris, Saturn, Lady Thigh, Troy, Golden Apple, &c.

POST MATCH

—is a term in RACING, where it is only necessary to insert the age of the HORSES in the Articles, and to run any horse of that age, without declaring what horse, till he appears at the post.

POT8OO'S

,—the name of a horse whose performances as a RACER, and progeny as a STALLION, will transmit his celebrity to succeeding generations in various directions: he was bred by the late Lord Abingdon, foaled in 1773, and got by Eclipse out of Sportsmistress, the dam of Lexicon, Jocundo, Roscius, Siddons, Peg Woffington, Sir Thomas, and Sulky. This horse was so named to gratify a little pique against the late Colonel O'Kelly, in allusion to the place of his nativity, ironically called the Land of Potatoes. Upon the turf he proved himself equal to any horse of his time: as a STALLION, few, if any, have stood in higher estimation. Exclusive of an infinity of annual winners, who have ran as COLTS and FILLIES for large stakes, but without a name, he is the SIRE of Parsley, Smack, Telescope, Turnip-top, Asparagus, Coriander, Flea, Misseltoe, Tiny, Alderman, Gumcistus, Cayenne, Chigwell, Golden Rod, Triptolemus, Cynthius, Druid, Emma, Guy, Lady, Lilliput, Polyanthus, Vesper, and Waxy. Aurora, Capsicum, Sister to Druid, Doricles, Edwin, Kidney, Mealy, Vixen, and Warwick. Doubtful, Faunus, Lambourn, Brother to Lilliput, Oliver, Molly Maybush, Rowland, Thereabouts, Golden Dab, and Yorkshire Bite. Dutchess of Limbs, Outcast, Schedoni, Trip-it, Dr. O'Liffey, Scrub, Snuff-box, Worthy, Champion, Crazy Jane, Canterbury, Lampedo, and Trifle.

PRECIPITATE

,—a horse of much recent celebrity, whose name was truly applicable to his descent. He was bred by Lord Egremont, foaled in 1787, got by Mercury, (a son of Eclipse,) dam by Herod, grand-dam (Maiden) by Matchem, out of Mr. Pratt's Old Squirt mare. In the first Spring Meeting at Newmarket 1790, when three years old, he won the first class of the Prince's Stakes of 100 guineas each, beating Thunderbolt, Chanticleer, and Sir Pepper; four having paid forfeit. In the same week he won the Bolton Stakes of 50 guineas each, beating Dragon, Chambooè, and Palafox; seven paying forfeit. Second Spring Meeting, he won the third class of the Prince's Stakes of 100 guineas each, beating Thunderbolt; seven paying forfeit. In the same week he received 100 guineas forfeit from Lord Grosvenor's Rhadamanthus. In 1792 he won 50l. at Guildford, beating Doge, Thunderbolt, Seringapatam, and Stout. The next day 50l. at the same place, beating Cardock and Griffin. The King's 100 guineas at Lewes, beating Skyscraper at three heats, the first being deemed a dead heat; after which he became a stallion in his Lordship's stud at 12 guineas a mare. He is the sire of Jonquille, Petworth, Matrannee, Rosalba, Chesnut Colt out of Bobtail, Chesnut Colt out of Rosemary, Humbug, Lazarus, Raginer, Apollo, Gulliver, Tag, Louisa, Tipstaff, and many others now in training.

PREVENTION

—is in itself a matter of so much magnitude, that it should ever be predominant in the mind of the sportsman and the man of pleasure. Prudence, PATIENCE, and PHILOSOPHY, when properly exerted, are frequently preventives to disease, mental mortification, trouble, expence, and consequent compunction. It is an established and incontrovertible maxim, that PREVENTION is preferable to CURE; under the influence of which impression (if properly attended to) a very great number of those occurrences, accidents, and dangerous diseases, which so constantly happen, might certainly be avoided; as, upon strict investigation, the far greater part may be found to originate in carelessness, neglect, indolence, or inhumanity. Riding or driving horses immoderate and unreasonable journies, without stopping upon the ROAD; riding hunters hardest in the DEEPEST ground, and taking very strong unnecessary leaps in the field; placing horses in a cold stable without immediate attention, when in a high state of perspiration; are amongst the many foundations of disease and disquietude which may be prevented, and are well worthy retention in the memory of those who wish to see their horses in health and good condition.

PRICKED

.—A horse is said to be pricked, when, in SHOEING, any one of the nails is accidentally or injudiciously driven too near the membranes with which the box of the hoof is lined: this may happen with the most expert operator by a sudden inversion of the point when in its seeming proper direction. A tenderness and halting is also very frequently occasioned by the nails passing close to, and pressing upon, the internal parts, which, by tight clinching, constitutes so great a compression, that pain (particularly in action) inevitably ensues; in which case instantly taking off the shoe, well oiling the hoof, replacing the shoe with more care and less force, will prove it a mere temporary inconvenience.

When a horse is suspected to be pricked, in consequence of going lame immediately after having been shod, and not before, it is then of course natural to conclude some injury has been sustained during the operation of shoeing, and that he does not go lame in consequence of any previous accident. Circumstances thus tending to justify the inference, a careful examination should be made without delay: the nails should be extracted singly in succession; and when the shoe is off, a proper degree of pressure should be made with the PINCERS, to ascertain the tender part. This done, it is too much the custom, particularly with the obstinate of the old school, to recur to their usual practice of devastation, by an immediate and immoderate definition of parts, under the plea of an "absolute necessity for going to the bottom," to prevent what most probably is by no means likely to ensue. If the particular nail is discovered by which the injury has been sustained, opening the spot of its insertion in a very trifling degree upon the surface, and pouring in a small quantity of Friar's Balsam, or compound Tincture of Myrrh, will in general allay the irritability, harden the punctured part, and subdue any tendency to inflammation: on the contrary, should any painful symptoms of impending maturation appear, emollient poultices, and warm digestives, should be applied to the bottom of the foot, to obtain a discharge from that part, that the formation of A QUITTOR may, if possible, be prevented.

PRICKET

.—The male produce of the BUCK and DOE (fallow deer) is so called at two years old, when he begins to put forth his head.

PRICKING

—is the unsportsmanlike act of tracking a HARE by the points of her feet, upon the paths and highways, when the hounds are at fault: it is a common practice, and can only be justified where hares are exceedingly scarce, and difficult to be found, with packs very small in number, or deficient in effect; but it is a custom too mean and degrading to be permitted with hounds of eminence, who must kill their game with a reputation untainted, or not kill at all.

PROBE

—is a silver instrument used by SURGEONS and VETERINARIANS, in sounding the depth of cavities, sinusses, fistulas, and wounds: they are, upon unexpected emergencies, so very frequently useful in the country-house, or remote residence of a sportsman, that it should never be without this, and some other trifling instruments of little expence; exclusive of lint, tow, ointments, tinctures, and a few other cordial and diuretic medicines, for which there is sometimes a sudden and unexpected occasion.

PULSE

.—In all dangerous and inflammatory diseases of horses, much information may be derived from the state of the PULSE; in addition to the observations to be made upon the difficulty of respiration, the heaving of the flank, the heat of the mouth, and the state of the eyes. It seems, by the nicest observations, that the pulsations in a healthy horse seldom exceed from forty to forty-five in a minute; exceeding which in any material degree, there is then reason to believe, inflammatory heat is predominant in the frame, and that fever is rapidly advancing in proportion to the increased velocity of the blood. Farriers in general, either from a want of attention, or want of judgment, are most culpably deficient in this part of their professional examination; upon a competent proficiency in which, must solely depend the CONSISTENCY, or impropriety, of repeated bleedings, in all cases of high and increasing inflammations, where REPETITIONS are absolutely indispensible for the preservation of life.

PURGING

—is an operation with horses, upon the propriety, consistency, danger, and utility of which, various opinions have been opposed to each other for half a century past; these, after the public experience of the last fourteen years, seem to have centered in an acknowledged preponderation of its occasional use; and that without its frequent salutary introduction, certain diseases are neither to be prevented or cured. The absolute necessity for sometimes PURGING, is not only now universally admitted, but the practice as generally adopted; the first step to a successful termination of which operation is, to adapt (by every possible degree of precaution) the strength of the physic to the size, state, and constitution of the HORSE, as well as an eye to the particular cause for which the purgation is become necessary. Proper attention paid to these leading circumstances, and due care observed during its process, no apprehensions of danger need be at all entertained.

It is necessary those who have not been accustomed to the management of horses under so serious an operation, should know, that, from the great length of the intestinal canal, a horse requires a considerable decree of cathartic stimulus to insure excremental expulsion. When the contents of the larger intestines are become indurated by long retention, little work, and a want of exercise, there is then a kind of constitutional tendency to constipation, when, of course, more disquietude or pain will be experienced by the subject, than when the body is in a more favourable and less costive state. The intestines (when extended) exceeding thirty yards in length, and laying compressed in a horizontal position within the frame, and in so small a compass, is the principal, and almost only, reason to be advanced, why the combination of purgative ingredients continue from eighteen to twenty-four hours in the frame, before the fæces are sufficiently softened for the operation to begin.

Exclusive of the various disorders to which horses are subject, requiring a course of physic upon their first appearance, or at their termination, (as may be collected from the works of those who have written professedly upon the subject,) there are many instances, in which PURGING may be very advantageously brought into use, as a critical PREVENTIVE to DISEASE, although there may, at the time, be but little external cause to believe such morbidity is impending. Horses constantly standing in a stable upon full and good keep, with but very little work, and short exercise, generate blood freely, and lose a very trifling proportion of the constantly accumulating contents of the frame, by either perspiration or evacuation. Thus then the vessels, as well as the carcase, become so evidently overloaded, that the whole labours under the rigidity of one universal distension; constituting a preternatural stricture upon the body and its extremities, by which the system of secretion and excretion is partially or universally affected, and the regular routine of the ANIMAL ŒCONOMY proportionally deranged. Under this concise, but explanatory, definition of repletion, and its effects, will be found the necessity for occasionally unloading the body by proper evacuants, and relieving the vessels from the unnatural stricture which reduces the elasticity of the solids, and retards or obstructs the easy circulation of their contents.

PURITY

—was a mare of distinguished celebrity originally, but rendered much more so, as the dam of the famous horse Rockingham, whose performances will be found under that head. Purity was bred by Mr. Pratt; foaled in 1774, and got by Matchem out of the old Squirt mare. She was the dam of Rockingham, Archibald, Fitzwilliam, and a filly by Highflyer; as well as others by Florizel, Magnet, Paymaster, and Saltram. Her dam (the old Squirt mare) produced many racers of the first class: Virgin, Miracle, Dido, Conundrum, Ranthos, Enigma, Riddle, Miss Tims, Pumpkin, Maiden, Rasselas, Purity, and three others; having continued to breed from 1755 to 1774; during which period of nineteen years, she produced the fifteen colts and fillies here described.

PURSIVENESS

—is a disorder, or degree of disease, with a difficulty of respiration, beyond the effect of a common cold and cough, but falling short of the malady denominated BROKEN WIND. Pursiveness in a horse bears no ill affinity to the asthmatic complaints of the human species. Although there have been refined distinctions adopted, and definitions attempted, between the symptoms of a cold and the disorder called pursiveness in a horse, yet one is very little more or less than an inveterate stage of the other. The blood having, from some particular cause, become sizey, has consequently passed through the finer vessels with a languor far inferior to the purposes of health; hence obstructions are first formed; and these continuing to increase, tubercles follow. The parts necessary to a free and easy respiration being thus affected, it becomes laborious and oppressive in a proportional degree with the increasing viscidity of the blood, and the length of time it has been permitted to continue in its progress without restraint. The finer vascular ramifications of the lungs being thus partially closed, imperfect respiration ensues; producing those whistling wheezings with which ASTHMATIC horses are observed to be distressed, particularly in brisk action, until it progressively terminates in broken wind, which it will inevitably do, unless the proper means of alleviation and cure are earnestly adopted. Frequent bleedings, pectoral detergents, intervening attenuants, and mercurial purging balls, (administered with patient and punctual perseverance,) are the only medical aids from which permanent relief must be expected, or can be obtained.