Much depends on the first finding a fox, who, if well found, may be said to be half killed. The huntsman should draw quietly, and up the wind; this is material; the fox, by drawing up the wind, does not hear the approach of the hounds, who by this means are also within hearing; besides, should the fox turn down the wind, as most probably he will, it lets the hounds all in. If covers are small, and from which a fox cannot break unseen, noise can then do no hurt, but late in the season foxes are wild, particularly in covers that are often hunted; and should there be any noise, they will slink their kennels and get too much advantage; the whipper-in, where this is suspected to happen, should get the opposite side of the cover, before the hounds are thrown into it.
When foxes are numerous, there is no occasion for an early hour, and when they are weak, by hunting late, they give better chases; when foxes are strong, hounds ought then to have the advantage which hunting early affords them. When hounds go out late, they should immediately proceed where it is likely to find, which, for the most part, is that cover where hounds have been least in; if a fox is not soon found, a long and tiresome day is generally the consequence; when the cover is thick, particularly if it be furzy, it should be drawn slowly; a fox at a late hour will keep his kennel until hounds come close upon him.—Beckford.—Daniel.
Covert, s. A shelter, a defence. Coverts of the Tail, (Uropygium, Linn.), in Ornithology, are feathers which cover the tail on the upper side, at the base.
Covey, s. A hatch, an old bird with her young ones; a number of birds together.
Cough, s. A convulsion of the lungs.
Cough, v. To have the lungs convulsed; to make a noise in endeavouring to evacuate the peccant matter from the lungs.
Chronic Cough.—It may appear strange to a person unacquainted with the animal economy, that what is taken into the stomach should affect the mucous membrane of the lungs, and that of the larynx, which is the seat of chronic cough. It is in the following manner: when the stomach is distended by hay, and especially if that hay is bad, it is gradually weakened, and rendered incapable of performing its office properly; hence the chyle is crude, and unfit for the purpose it was intended for, that is, forming pure blood. By this imprudent method of feeding them, the blood is rendered impure, and of course all the secretions become so likewise. Thus it is that the bland mucous fluid, formed upon the internal membrane of the wind-pipe and its branches, for the purpose of defending and lubricating it, becomes saline and acrimonious, and a source of constant irritation: hence arises the cough. It is commonly observed, that horses with chronic cough have immoderate appetites both for hay and water; and though people have suspected some connexion between this circumstance and the cough, they have not perceived the entire dependence of the cough upon it, which they might easily have done by a very simple experiment. Let a horse affected with chronic cough be fed moderately upon green food only, and it will generally be found that the chronic cough will gradually go off. But let the horse return to his former method of feeding, and the disease will quickly reappear.
There is no occasion to say much on the treatment and prevention of this disorder, when arising from improper feeding. It may be useful, however, to observe, that when the appetite has been depraved, and the digestive power weakened by long continued improper feeding, they cannot be suddenly restored: and it will often require a steady perseverance in a careful system of feeding, and the use of diuretic medicine, in such a way, however, as to keep up only a moderate degree of increased action in the kidneys, without injuring those organs, or affecting the stomach: and this may be accomplished by giving half an ounce of nitre in a little corn twice or three times a day, or the powder described afterwards. If a horse is inclined to eat his litter, he should be muzzled during the night, and in the day time it should be taken from him.
Chronic cough is sometimes a consequence of a violent attack of catarrh or strangles, especially when there has been considerable soreness and inflammation of the throat, extending, in some degree, perhaps, to the larynx. Roaring often originates in the same cause. I have known an obstinate chronic cough cured by drenches composed of oxymel, or a syrup made with treacle and vinegar; also by a decoction of garlic with linseed oil. Barbadoes tar and oil, with balsam of sulphur, have also been employed as remedies for cough. It is not improbable that these drenches, by stimulating the throat, may improve the secretion of the mucous membrane of the larynx, or render it less irritable.