SCENT. 



I APPROACH the subject of scent with dread 

 and apprehension, for of all the incomprehensible, 

 annoying, inconsistent, exasperating, unfathom- 

 able things one encounters in the realm of sport, 

 the nature and theory of scent is entitled to take 

 precedence. The more one studies and investi- 

 gates it, the less they seem to know of it. It is 

 evidently too complex a problem for eminent 

 scientists of the world to effectually solve. They 

 seem to have left it to the practical, every-day 

 man with little or no pretensions to scientific at- 

 tainments to solve. I have found it impossible 

 to learn anything from a scientific or medical 

 standpoint, having been unable to find a single 

 treatise or work touching upon it in the slightest 

 degree. My observations, therefore, are purely 

 practical, which, doubtless, in the long run, are 

 better than theoretical ones. As every one who 

 has hunted hounds has formulated in their own 

 minds theories of scent, I have but little hopes of 

 changing the minds of any such, and what I may 

 say is solely for the benefit of those who have 

 given the subject but little thought. 



My experiments have not been wholly con- 

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