212 



THE SHOOTER S GUIDE, 



smelling. Hence the reason why a dog will trace 

 the footsteps of his master for miles, follow him into 

 any house, church, or other building, and distinguish 

 him from any other person, though surrounded hy a 

 multitude. And when the faithful animal has thus 

 diligently sought out and recognised his master, he is 

 seldom willing to trust, the evidence even of his own 

 eyes, until, with erected crest, he has taken a few cor- 

 dial sniffs to convince himself he is right. Hence we 

 discover how a setter or pointer gains information of 

 his approach to partridges, &c. ; and hence, also, we 

 perceive how birds and beasts of prey are directed to 

 their food at such vast distances : for these corpuscles, 

 issuing from putrid bodies, and floating in the air, 

 are carried by the wind to different quarters ; where, 

 striking the olfactory nerves of whatever animal they 

 meet with in their way, they immediately conduct 

 them to the spot. It matters not how much of the 

 effluvia is evaporated, so long as enough remains to 

 irritate the olfactory organ ; for, whether it be bird or 

 beast, they try the scent in all directions, till they dis- 

 cover that which is stronger and stronger in propor- 

 tion as they proceed; and this nature has taught them 

 to know is the direct and certain road to the object 

 of pursuit. This observation is confirmed by the in- 

 creased eagerness to be perceived in pointers and set- 

 ters, in proportion as the scent is recent, and they 

 draw nearer to the game. 



It is a fact well known, among sportsmen at least^ 

 that a dog cannot find game so well in a ploughed 



