The distinction between games and athletic sports is an arbitrary one, and the articles on athletics have been included in the list of those on out-door games; but a few of them seem to call for special mention. The article Athletic Sports (Vol. 2, p. 846) gives a general account of amateur associations and of national and international meetings; and contains a special section on the revived Olympic Games. Athlete (Vol. 2, p. 846) and Games, Classical (Vol. 11, p. 443) deal with the ancient Greek and Roman contests. All-Round Athletics (Vol. 1, p. 709) describes the championship, instituted in this country, for the highest awards attained by one athlete in eleven different branches of sport. Amateur (Vol. 1, p. 782) is a very full and impartial discussion of the interminable controversies regarding the distinction between professionals and amateurs. Among the articles on special sports are Running (Vol. 23, p. 853), dealing with every form of race from the 100–yard dash to the Marathon run; Hurdle-Racing (Vol. 13, p. 958); Jumping (Vol. 15, p. 533); Pole Vaulting (Vol. 21, p. 977); Weight-Throwing (Vol. 28, p. 494); Putting the Shot (Vol. 22, p. 672); Hammer Throwing (Vol. 12, p. 899); Caber-Tossing (Vol. 4, p. 917); Discus (Vol. 8, p. 312); and Tug-of-War (Vol. 27, p. 365).
Hunting
The reader interested in hunting will turn first to the articles on sporting weapons. Gun (Vol. 12, p. 717), by Sir Henry Seton Karr, one of the world’s most famous big game shots, describes the modern shot gun in great detail, with full particulars as to barrels, locks and ejectors. Rifle (Vol. 23, p. 325) of course includes full descriptions of the military rifles of all armies, and the sections on sporting rifles and target rifles (p. 334) are by the contributor of the article on shot guns just mentioned. Pistol (Vol. 21, p. 654) gives a full account of the modern automatic pistol, with diagrams showing the mechanism of the Mauser and Colt types. A useful table shows the length-over-all, barrel-length, weight and composition of cartridges, of the eleven standard types of Colt and Smith & Wesson revolvers. Ammunition (Vol. 1, p. 864) deals with the cartridges used for guns, rifles and pistols. The “propellants” employed are discussed in Gunpowder (Vol. 12, p. 723), by Prof. Hodgkinson; Explosives (Vol. 10, p. 81); and Cordite (Vol. 7, p. 139). Shooting (Vol. 24, p. 995), by Percy Stephens, deals with the pursuit of birds, ground game and big game in all parts of the world. Among the varieties of American big game mentioned are the huge grizzlies of Alaska, the wapiti, moose, caribou, antelope, big horn and puma or mountain lion. The section on the hunter’s personal equipment contains excellent practical hints as to outfit. Among other articles of interest in this connection are Bird (Vol. 3, p. 959), by Prof. Hans Gadow; Rabbit (Vol. 22, p. 767), by Sir William Flower and Richard Lyddeker; Deer (Vol. 7, p. 923); Antelope (Vol. 2, p. 89); Elk (Vol. 9, p. 290); Bear (Vol. 3, p. 573); Puma (Vol. 22, p. 644); and Carnivora (Vol. 5, p. 366). There is a separate article on Pigeon Shooting (Vol. 21, p. 597). On each species of African and Asiatic big game there is an elaborate article. The dogs used in sports of all kinds are described in the article Dog (Vol. 8, p. 374), by Walter Baxendale, kennel editor of the London Field, and Prof. Chalmers Mitchell, with five full-page plates.
Riding to hounds, including fox-hunting, stag-hunting, hare-hunting and the drag hunt, is covered by the article Hunting (Vol. 13, p. 946), by A. E. T. Watson, editor of the Badminton Library. Other forms of the chase are dealt with in Coursing (Vol. 7, p. 321) and Falconry (Vol. 19, p. 141), by Lieut.-Col. Delmé Radcliffe.
Fishing
The key article on line fishing is Angling (Vol. 2, p. 21), in length equivalent to 35 pages of this Guide. It begins with a most interesting historical section, showing that, before the days of the earliest hooks, the cave-men used on their lines a little flake of flint or strip of stone, fixed in the bait, with a groove in the middle of it, around which the line was so fastened that when the pull came the instrument turned crossways in the fish’s stomach and could not be disgorged. A delightful section on angling literature follows this historical matter; and then comes treatment of fresh water fishing, with fly-casting and the use of surface baits; live-baiting and spinning; and bottom-fishing; each of the three fully treated. A detailed study is then made of the habits of the salmon and of the tackle and methods devised for his beguiling. Trout, muskelunge, bass, perch and roach are successively discussed; and then comes the section on sea-angling, the tarpon, tuna, jewfish and the giant black bass. The article ends with a complete bibliography of the subject. There are 96 articles on individual fish, all listed on p. 891 of Vol. 29, if the reader desires to refresh his memory as to the varieties. Fisheries (Vol. 10, p. 429), by Prof. Garstang and Prof. Chalmers Mitchell is concerned with the industry rather than with sport, but it contains much information about sea fish which will be of use to the sea-angler.
Taxidermy
A thoroughly practical article is Taxidermy (Vol. 26, p. 464), by Montague Browne, author of a manual of the art. His book and Dr. W. T. Hornaday’s Taxidermy and Zoological Collecting are the most important special books on the subject, and Mr. Browne in this article constantly refers to the improved methods introduced by Hornaday and other Americans. He points out the dangers of using arsenical soap and gives the formula for the substitute, quite safe except when hot, which he himself invented. Minute directions are given for skinning, mounting, etc. And the article also treats of the advantages of modelling as compared with the old method of “stuffing”; and the placing of specimens in natural surroundings, with panoramic back-grounds, top- and side-lighting, etc.
Sailing and Boating
On sailing, boating and kindred subjects the reader should first consult the article Yachting (Vol. 28, p. 890), equivalent to 26 pages of this Guide, by B. Heckstall-Smith, yachting editor the Field, and secretary of the Yacht Racing Association and of the International Yacht Racing Union. The historical part of this article traces yachting in England back to the state-barges of the Anglo-Saxon kings and through the pleasure ship of Elizabeth (1588), which was built at Cowes in the Isle of Wight, so that this place has been associated with the sport for more than three centuries. Charles II in 1660 received the present of a yacht from the Dutch, and at this time the Dutch word “yacht” first found its way into the English language. Yachting clubs date from the establishment in 1720 of the Cork Harbour Water Club, now the Royal Cork Yacht Club. At Cowes races were sailed as early as 1780 and a yacht club was organized there in 1812. The first yacht club in the United States was formed in 1844 and the first race in the United States was at New York in 1846 to Sandy Hook light-ship and back. The first important alteration in type was in 1848 when the “Mosquito” was built—a 50–ton vessel, 59 ft. 2 in. at water line, 15 ft. 3 in. beam, with a long hollow bow and a short and rather full after-body. The first races in the United States resulted in the building of the “America,” which in 1851 crossed the ocean and won a race round the Isle of Wight, bringing back to the New York Yacht Club the “America’s” cup. The later races for this cup are described in detail at the close of the article, with elaborate tables showing the exact tonnage or sailing length of competing yachts, dates of races, time allowance, elapsed time, corrected time, and margin by which each race was won. The article describes 1870–1880 as the first great era of yachting. Changes in the method of reckoning length, introduced in 1879, resulted in the “lead mine” or plank-on-edge type. In 1887 the system of tonnage measurement was introduced and a method of rating by water-line length and sail area—and this “crushed the plank-on-edge type completely. There was not another boat of the kind built.” The era of big cutters followed—in America notably the Herreshoff boats. The success of the bulb keels in the small classes threatened the use of “skimming dishes” in the larger classes—and a consequent lack of head room and cabin accommodation. New linear rating rules were therefore adopted—one in 1896 and another in 1901, followed in 1904 by international rating rules. The English types of Fife and Nicholson were succeeded by such boats from the Krupp yard at Kiel as the “Meteor” and “Germania.” See also the article Model Yachting (Vol. 18, p. 640).