Amidst the various opinions upon the origin and property of scent, the most opposite join issue upon the simple question of doubt; whether the particles of effluvia which constitute what is termed scent, and by which hounds are excited to follow the game, are proper identical parts of the animal's body emitted in exhalations of respiration from the lungs, or by the transpiration of perspirative matter through the skin. This, perhaps, is of too abstruse a depth for the utmost extent of human wisdom to explore with success. The opinion of SOMERVILE seems founded upon the very basis of experimental observation, bettered by the sound judgment, and practical remarks, upon the promoting, or retarding, effects of both the atmosphere and soil; to which one circumstance alone seems to convey additional rays of elucidation. It must be recollected by every sportsman, who has occasionally taken the field with HARRIERS, that, although they have _picked the trail_ for a mile, into the very _stubble_, _fallow_, or _covert_, where the hare is sitting in her form; although they are trying round her in every direction, and even within a very few yards; there is then no more palpable perceptible scent, than when they trailed at half a mile from her form; and when she _lays close_, it is evident the dog, or dogs, derive no additional advantage from being nearer to her, (in respect to finding,) unless by _stealing away_, or jumping up, she gets into motion, when the scent is then afloat, and continued as already described. Whether this enquiry will ever be traced to the source of certainty, is almost immaterial; it is a large field for the speculation of philosophy, and well worthy investigation. From a contemplative review of the operations of nature, it is evidently demonstrated, that there is a secret instinctive principle infused into the whole race of animals, whereby they are impulsively propelled to the propagation of their species, the preservation of their offspring, or an implicit pursuit of their propensities; so that no one shall become too numerous and destructive for the existence of another upon whom they prey, or with which they live in a perpetual state of warfare. It is likewise to be remarked, that the greater likeness we discover in the form of the animal creation, the more we perceive their friendly disposition to each other; because the scent of their bodies afford a pleasing gratification to the sensitive faculty, without exciting the appetite; if it was not for which all-wise dispensation of a superior and invisible Power, the same species would devour each other, and the purposes of the creation would be annihilated by the operation of its own works.