Abstract
HITHERTO, success in hunting has depended largely on popular omens of hunting conditions and on the practical experience of Masters of Hounds. The relation of scent and the weather formed the subject of a recent scientific study (see NATURE, April 14, 1934, p. 548). Now a meteorological officer of the Royal Air Force (R. G. Veryard) has supplied information enabling the Master to. arrange place and time of meet to fit in with the best scenting conditions. In a pamphlet issued by the Masters of Foxhounds Association of India (Lieut.-Col. C. J. R. Turner, 47th Sikhs, Chaman, Baluchistan. 3 rupees), although specially written for the Peshawar Vale Hunt, he discusses many points which are of more than local interest. An inversion, or low lapse-rate of temperature, involving a restriction of the upward motion of eddies, is mainly favourable for good scenting conditions. The author does not agree with Mr. Budgett's view that for scenting conditions to be good the ground must always be warmer than the air, because a superadiabatic lapse-rate near the ground causes atmospheric turbulence which dissipates even scents which were quite strong initially. The number of good and bad scenting days are approximately equal during a calm, but, with a moderate wind, up to 3 on the Beaufort scale, the rate of evaporation is increased and scent may be good. If the air is less than 30 per cent saturated, scenting conditions are likely to be poor. Scent is more likely to be good if the soil is moist than if it is dry. The best hunting conditions in Peshawar obtained when the air temperature registered between 40° and 65° F., that is, in the morning. A general survey of meteorological conditions over the hunting season undoubtedly resulted in better sport, scenting conditions being predicted with fair accuracy for particular days. It is suggested that, from a study of the meteorological elements in relation to scent, a Master of Hounds will be able to frame suitable questions, the replies to which will give him a good idea how he can benefit by the information. Micro-Climatology
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Scent and the Weather. Nature 136, 60–61 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/136060c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/136060c0