Racquet, Toronto.—You are quite right in supposing that tennis proper, or court tennis, has seen much palmier days. It is said that in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries there were a couple of hundred courts in England, of which fourteen were in London, while Henry VIII. built one at Hampton Court Palace. No revival of this aristocratic game took place till this century. In 1838 one was built at Lord’s Cricket Ground, London. Now there are, we believe, three in London, one each at Oxford and Cambridge, while there are five other public or club courts in England, at Manchester, Brighton, Leamington, Crayley near Winchester, and Hampton Court. Besides these there are about as many private ones.
Capt. C., Minneapolis.—In England linseed oil is never used in hunting stables, except as a purgative, or, mixed with tobacco dust (about three-quarters of an ounce of the latter to three-quarters of a pint of the former) as a drench for worms. To hacks and harness horses linseed oil is sometimes given in small quantities to make their coats look better. The seed itself is given to hunters after a day’s work, either in the form of linseed tea (a substitute for oatmeal gruel), or when boiled to a jelly and mixed with a bran mash. About two pounds of linseed is the quantity for either preparation. Linseed jelly is often mixed with oats when it is desired to put flesh on horses in poor condition, or when getting them up for sale. It is a demulcent, and slightly laxative.
A PAIR OF POACHERS.
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LARGER IMAGE
OUTING.
VOL. XIII. DECEMBER, 1888. NO. 3.
