In the stable, one often hears the old adage, "a good grooming is better for a horse than a feeding.*' The same holds true in the kennel. The ancient Averrhoes gave the sum of the directions by Galen and other authorities, in his reference to friction applied to the human body. Strong friction, he said, braces and hardens the body; weak, rarefies and softens; moderate, in an intermediate degree. Besides, he added, hard friction diminishes obesity; moderate, on the other hand, tends to remove emaciation.

Not only is the health of a dog improved by grooming, but his changed appearance well repays the owner for the effort. Again in the operation, commencing cutaneous diseases and vermin are detected, suggesting the prompt application of remedies and much trouble and annoyance thereby averted.

In the use of a comb, care should be observed lest the skin be irritated and mange propagated.

A clean, fairly stiff hair brush, a bathing hair-glove, or a pad of woollen yarns, and a chamois skin are all the essentials. Their use can be followed by hand rubbing, an admirable method of adding a fine finish and producing a gloss.

Sufficient only for the removal of dirt and small scales from the skin, should the hair be brushed or combed in any other direction than that in which it naturally falls. When preparing for bench shows and hand-rub bing is indulged in to an unusual extent, too great pressure over the loins is to be avoided, as weakness in the muscles of that region can be induced by it. Roughness of the coat and a preternatural dryness of the hair, it must be remembered, is in consequence of internal diseases, or of a general disturbance of nutrition. That the latter has great influence on the growth of the hair, is proved by various experiments. Hagendie fed a dog exclusively on cheese; the animal remained apparently healthy but lost hie hair completely, probably because his food did not furnish to the bood the material necessary for its formation.