«^ -3 
 
r- X. 
 
 JOHNA.SEAVERNS 
 
 ^^"ir'^ ^Jk. 
 
ADVICE 
 
 PURCHASERS OF HORSES; 
 
 BKING A SHORT AND FAMILI A R TREATISE ON THE EXTERIOR CONFORMATION 
 OF THE KOaSE ; THE NATURE OF SOUNDNESS AND UNSOUNDNKSS ; ANI» 
 THE LAWS RELATING TO SALE AND WARRANTY ; WITH COPIOUS DIHliC- 
 TIONS FOR DISCOVERING UNSOUNDNESSES PRIOR TO PURCHASING. 
 
 By J. STEWART, 
 
 VETERINARY SURGEON, AND PROFESSOR OF VETERINARY SURGERY 
 IN THE ANDERSONIAN UNIVERSITY. 
 
 " The buyer hath need of an hondrccl eyes, 
 But the seller of only one." 
 
 THIRD EDITION. 
 
 PRINTED AT THE 
 
 Glasgow University Press. 
 PUBLISHED BY W. R. M'PHUN, 86, TRONGATE, 
 
 AND 
 
 SIMPKIN AND MARSHALL, LONDON. 
 
 MDCCCXXXV. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Preface, ...... 
 
 V 
 
 Exterior Conformation of the Horse, 
 
 1 
 
 Soundness, .... 
 
 16 
 
 Unsoundness, ..... 
 
 18 
 
 Laws Relating to Sale and Warranty, 
 
 21 
 
 Vice, 
 
 42 
 
 Directions for Discovering Unsoundnesses, 
 
 48 
 
 index. •....».. 
 
 111 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 There is no species of traffic in which the 
 purchaser runs greater risk, exposes himself 
 to more imposition, and experiences more 
 disappointment, than in that of horse-dealing. 
 There is none in which so little confidence 
 is placed in the seller ; and, generally speak- 
 ing, there is none in which greater ignorance 
 is displayed by both, in judging of the sound- 
 ness of the commodity. The buyer inquires 
 " is the horse sound?" the seller replies 
 " warranted sound," and makes himself re- 
 sponsible for it by giving a written certificate. 
 As the word sound forms such an important 
 part of the contract, we might expect that 
 its meaning would be welt defined, and clearly 
 understood in the same sense by both parties. 
 But no such thing; on the contrary, not two 
 
out of an hundred attach the same meaning 
 to it. One says, a horse is sound when free 
 from lameness ; another enumerates a certain 
 number of diseases, such as spavin, broken 
 wind, glanders, &C.5 the existence of any of 
 which makes a horse, in his opinion, unfit to 
 be warranted, but no two agree as to the 
 kind, or number of diseases. Hence arise 
 misconception, litigation, suspicion of knavery, 
 and the low estimation in which the dealer 
 is too generally held. Many people are not 
 aware while they vilify the dealer for palm- 
 ing an unsound horse upon them, that it is 
 quite possible he knew nothing about the 
 unsoundness. It is only under certain cir- 
 cumstances that he can know more of the 
 horse than the purchaser (if a horseman) 
 would, after possessing him the same length 
 of time. For the truth is, the majority of 
 men embark in horse-dealing with scarcely a 
 qualification requisite for conducting it, with 
 profit to themselves and satisfaction to their 
 customers. It is not enough to be a toler- 
 
able judge of a horse's shape, to have tact in 
 buying at a low rate, and selling at a high 
 one. In order to select with judgment, and 
 recommend with confidence, some knowledge 
 of the structure and diseases of their mer- 
 chandise, should be added to their ordinary 
 qualifications. With such information, the 
 dealer would be much less exposed to the 
 mortification of having his horses returned 
 for what he knew nothing about — his war- 
 ranty would be more valuable — he would be 
 more trusted to, and stand higher in public 
 estimation. 
 
 While the ignorance of the dealer is one 
 great source of dispute, his undoubted dis- 
 honesty is another. " Too many," as I once 
 heard an experienced and intelligent horse- 
 man remark, " begin business who have nei- 
 ther principle nor capital," and whose whole 
 life is spent in downright imposition. They 
 buy up a lot of lame or worn-out horses, try 
 their skill in removing or healing their worst 
 faults, and then resell them to some small 
 
VIU 
 
 former, or poor carter; and thus, these des- 
 picable rascals, like quacks, contrive to live 
 by robbing the poor. It is some consolation, 
 however, that they are not nearly so numer- 
 ous as they were some years ago. Men of 
 respectability and information are gradually 
 pushing them out of the field. 
 
 The dealer is not always in the wrong. 
 It is imagined by many purchasers, that the 
 warranty makes the seller responsible for 
 whatever may happen the horse for a certain 
 period after sale ; some say three weeks, some 
 three months, and others, still more rapacious, 
 would have it extend to six months. Now, 
 by referring to the article on warranty, it 
 will be seen that though the horse dies a 
 day, an hour, or even a minute after the 
 completing of the sale, yet the purchaser must 
 bear the whole of the loss, unless it can be 
 proved that the cause of death existed at the 
 moment of sale. Few men would be foolish 
 enough to warrant a horse, at any price, if the 
 law were such as it is so commonly supposed. 
 
IX 
 
 Indeed as it is, some gentlemen when selling 
 their horses, have been so much annoyed 
 that they have given up warranting altoge- 
 ther; and they contend that it is upon the 
 whole the best way. But to me it appears 
 otherw^ise; for it would encourage all sorts 
 of knavery, the purchaser would be com- 
 pletely at the mercy of the seller, and it 
 would very much impede the transaction of 
 business. It is often said that a horse is like 
 a lottery ticket, but he would be much more 
 so if he were never warranted. The irre- 
 gular mode in which horse-dealing is man- 
 aged, makes it more a lottery than it naturally 
 is. Alter the system, and fewer warranties 
 will be asked, and fewer objections will be 
 made to granting them. The purchaser can- 
 not return the horse without a veterinary 
 surgeon's certificate that he is unsound, and 
 that the cause of that unsoundness existed 
 prior to sale; and therefore the seller runs 
 no risk, if the horse is really sound when sold. 
 He should, however, reject the opinion of a 
 
man who is not qualified to give one. But 
 now I am getting out of my province ; this 
 book is written for the purchaser. 
 
 In the following pages I have endeavoured 
 to supply the horseman with what he must often 
 have felt the want of. I believe there is no 
 separate treatise in the English language on 
 the examination of purchases, and, with the 
 exception of the author of the " Horse" in 
 the " Library of Useful Knowledge,'* our 
 authors are all too scholastic, and too volumin- 
 ous to be useful to an ordinary reader. 
 
 Glasgow, October^ 1833. 
 
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ADVICE 
 
 PURCHASERS OF HORSES. 
 
 Exterior Conformation of the Horse. 
 
 There are some peculiarities in tlie form of the 
 horse, which admirably fit him for one kind of 
 work, but at the same time render him useless, 
 or nearly so, for another. The racer, with his 
 light airy form, delicate limbs, rapid movements, 
 and fiery spirit, is eminently an animal of speed ; 
 but yoked to a heavy wagg-on along with a stout 
 cart horse, he appears comparatively weak and 
 worthless. Though one horse, from his con- 
 formation, is best fitted to carry, and another to 
 draw, and another still to do both with decency, 
 yet there are certain points, which it is desirable 
 to have in all horses, for whatever work they 
 may be designed. Such, for example, is a large 
 nostril, which is a good quality in all, and does 
 not, like some others, become a bad one, when 
 the horse is applied to a different purpose. But 
 then, it is one of far more consequence in ahorse 
 
2 EXTERIOR CONFORMATION 
 
 wanted for quick work, than one whose pace 
 need never exceed a walk. In the one case, it 
 is absolutely requisite, but in the other, is only 
 a secondary consideration. 
 
 The horse in most general use, is a compound 
 of the speed of the racer and the power of the 
 draught horse : and it is the different proportions 
 in which these qualities exist, that make one a 
 hunter, another a hackney, &c. To explain how 
 a certain form makes one horse fleet, and another 
 powerful, would, in mest cases, lead to an ana- 
 tomical consideration of the whole machine, so 
 that in the majority of cases, I can only state 
 the fact, and those who wish for more, may 
 obtain it by some dissection, and a careful perusal 
 of " The Horse," in the Library of Useful Know- 
 ledge — a work, by the way, which no admirer or 
 proprietor of the horse should be without. I 
 shall only observe here, that difference in form 
 is almost entirely produced by the relative pro- 
 portion (length generally) of the bones, and the 
 position they occupy. The muscles are the organs 
 of motion, and in proportion to their development, 
 the animal is strong, but the bones being the 
 levers upon which the muscles act, that strength, 
 and the horse's action, must be considerably in- 
 
OP THE HORSE. 3 
 
 creased or diminished, according as the bone they 
 are attached to is longer or shorter than is usual. 
 The strength is likewise much, and, generally 
 speaking, the extent of action more, influenced, 
 by the position of the bone, as in the case of the 
 shoulder blade, which by being long, and slanting 
 from the withers forwards and downwards, gives 
 the horse extensive action as well as strength, 
 while a more upright position (and if upright, it 
 musthe short likewise) of the same bone, confines 
 the action of the whole limb, and reduces the 
 power of the muscles. The bones, besides, 
 sustain and give form to the whole structure, 
 and add considerably to the weight: consequently 
 their bulk in the draught horse is not a serious 
 objection, for he does much of his work by throw- 
 ing his weight into the collar, and as it were 
 pushing it before him. 
 
 Notwithstanding the importance of conforma- 
 tion, it is not all that is required. Experience 
 reminds us, that many seemingly faultless animals 
 have lamentably disappointed the expectations 
 their figure had raised, while others, as insig- 
 nificant in appearance as may be, have surprised 
 good judges by their extraordinary and iinlooked 
 for performances. Hence, many horsemen ex- 
 
4 EXTERIOR CONFORMATION 
 
 claim, that <' there are good horses of all shapes." 
 The fact is, a great deal depends on the quantum 
 of nervous energy or " bottom" which the animal 
 possesses, and it is the union of this energy with 
 good conformation that makes many horses 
 invaluable. Its absence or presence, however, 
 is not likely to be discovered by the purchaser 
 without a trial ; and to avoid disappointment in 
 this respect, it is therefore advisable to obtain 
 one prior to purchase. The horse should be set 
 to the work he will be called on to perform, and 
 if he is intended for the saddle or single harness, 
 he should have no companion on his trial, for 
 many horses work well in company, that are 
 downright sluggards when alone. 
 
 Some horses have an unpleasant way of going, 
 or are difficult to manage, or have some vice 
 which is only displayed at work. These are so 
 many more reasons for having a trial prior to 
 striking a bargain. But if that cannot be obtained, 
 some sort of conclusion regarding the animal's 
 spirit may be drawn from his general appearance. 
 The way he carries his head — his attention to 
 surrounding objects — his gait — and the lively 
 motion of his ears, may all or each be looked to 
 as indicative of " bottom" or willingness to work. 
 
OP THE HORSE. 5 
 
 It is only however in a private stable, ov in that 
 
 of a respectable dealer, that these criteria can be 
 
 depended upon : for in a market-place, the 
 
 animal is too much excited by the cracking of 
 
 whips, and the too frequent application of them, 
 
 to be judged of as regards his temper. Neither 
 
 must the buyer be thrown off his guard by the 
 
 animation which horses display at an auction, or 
 
 on coming out of the stable of a petty dealer, 
 
 for it is a fact which cannot be too well made 
 
 known, that there are many unprincipled dealers 
 
 who make it their business, before showing a 
 
 horse, to "put some life in him," that is, they 
 
 torture him with the lash, till, between pain and 
 
 fear, the poor animal is so much excited as to 
 
 bound from side to side with his utmost agility, 
 
 at the least sound or movement of the bystanders. 
 
 Such a wretched want of humanity cannot bo 
 
 too severely censured, and I would neither buy 
 
 nor recommend another to buy, from a man, who 
 
 degrades himself by such abominable cruelty and 
 
 pitiful eflPorts to cheat his customer. However, 
 
 I believe, most well-informed and respectable 
 
 dealers have now done away with, and prohibited 
 
 their grooms, from whipping as well as many 
 
 other paltry and easily seen through attempts to 
 
b THE HEAD AND NECK. 
 
 impose upon the unwary. But the art of cheat- 
 ing still reigns triumphant in the stables of the 
 unprincipled " coper," and the buyer should, if 
 possible, shun him. 
 
 In considering the conformation of the horse, 
 it is convenient to divide him into Head and 
 Neck, Trunk or Carcase, and Extremities, or 
 the Hind and Fore Legs. Under these heads, 
 I shall note what are deemed the most essential 
 points, and only those : for there can be no 
 occasion for dilating upon the subject as is usual, 
 when attention is directed to such trifles as, " the 
 ears should be well placed, small, pointed, erect, 
 covered with thin skin, the eyelids thin, the 
 muzzle thin, and Avell supported," &c. Such an 
 account might consistently close by saying, that 
 the horse should have four feet as well as four 
 legs. Until men can make horses as they say 
 they slioidd be, the purchaser must content him- 
 self if he gets one with those qualities which are 
 most important in fitting him for his destined 
 work, and whose general appearance will do his 
 master no discredit. 
 
 The Head and Neck, 
 The head, as being a part not at a,ll contri- 
 
THE HEAD AND NECK. 7 
 
 bating to progression, should, in the saddle horse, 
 be small, that it may be light — the nostrils 
 expanded to admit plenty of air, and the space 
 between the branches of the lower jaw, called 
 the channel, should be wide, that there may be 
 plenty of room for the head of the windpipe. In 
 the draught horse, a heavy head is not, as far as 
 utility is concerned, an objection, for it enables 
 him to throw some weight into the collar, and 
 hence, excepting its ugliness, it is rather an 
 advantage if he is used entirely for draught. But 
 it makes the saddle horse bear heavy on the 
 band of the rider, makes him liable to stumble, 
 and, when placed at the end of a long neck, is 
 apt to wear out the fore feet and legs by its 
 great weight. The neck of the saddle horse 
 should be thin, not too much arched, and rather 
 short than long, for the same reason that the 
 head should be light : and in the draught horse, 
 it may be thick, stallion-like, and sufficiently long 
 to afford plenty of room for the collar, and for 
 the same reason that the head may be large in 
 this animal. The windpipe should be large, and 
 standing well out from the neck, that the air 
 may have an easy passage to and from the lungs. 
 The horse used for both carrying and drawing, 
 
b THE TRUNK OR CARCASE. 
 
 should have a head and neck neither too light 
 nor too heavy. The advantage of a heavy head 
 and neck to a draught horse, is illustrated by the 
 practice of some carters putting a boy on the 
 shoulder of a horse, when starting a load in deep 
 ground. By enabling him to throw the boy' 
 weight besides his own into the collar, it assists 
 him materially. 
 
 The Trunk or Carcase. 
 
 That the saddle horse may be safe and have 
 extensive action, it is necessary that the withers 
 be high. This advantage is indicated by the 
 horse standing well up before ; and it is usual in 
 showing a horse to exaggerate the height of the 
 forehand, by making him stand with his fore feet 
 on a somewhat elevated spot. A horse with 
 low withers appears thick and cloddy about the 
 shoulder. In the ass and mule, the withers are 
 very low, and the shoulders very flat, and this 
 is the reason why they are so unpleasant to ride, 
 and why it is next to impossible to keep the 
 saddle in its proper place without the aid of a 
 crupper. High withers, however, are not essen- 
 
THE TRUNK OR CARCASE. 9 
 
 tial to the racer or the draught horse. The 
 former does all his work by leaps, and that is 
 performed best when the horse stands somewhat 
 higher behind than before: neither are high 
 withers necessary to the draught horse : but in 
 the roadster they are as important as the safety 
 of the rider is, for a horse with a low forehand 
 is easily thrown on his knees. In the draught 
 horse, this tendency towards the ground is 
 obviated by the support the collar affords. 
 
 The chest should be deep and wide in all 
 horses, but especially so in one intended for quick 
 work, in order that there may be plenty of room 
 for those important organs, the lungs. When 
 the chest is deficient in capacity, the horse has 
 neither strength nor endurance ; and is in stable 
 language termed " washy." Such horses have 
 in general more fire than vigour, and being 
 showy, may carry a lady well enough, but are 
 comparatively worthless for effective service. A 
 narrow chest is indicated by the fore legs stand- 
 ing close to each other. 
 
 The barrel behind the girth should approach 
 as nearly as may be to a cylindrical form, that 
 there may be plenty of room for the digestive 
 organs. 
 
10 THE TRUNK OR CARCASE. 
 
 The back should not be too long nor too 
 short, for though length is favourable to an 
 extended stride and rapid motion, yet it makes 
 the horse weak, and unable either to draw or 
 carry any considerable weight. On the other 
 hand, if the back be too short, the horse's action 
 must be confined, and short-backed horses in 
 general make an unpleasant noise when trotting, 
 by striking the shoe of the hind foot against the 
 shoe of the fore one : and though they are in 
 general very hardy, and capable of enduring 
 much fatigue, and of living on but little food, 
 yet a back of middling length is better by far 
 than one immoderately short or long. 
 
 The back should be nearly straight ; when it 
 is curved downwards, the horse is termed "saddle- 
 backed," and though he is very easy to ride and 
 pleasant in his pace, yet he is weak, and unable 
 to carry a great weight. Sometimes, instead of 
 being sunk, the spine is arched upwards, and the 
 horse is said to be " roach backed." He is the 
 very reverse of the saddle-backed horse in every 
 respect. 
 
 The croup, or space between the termination 
 of the loins and the root of the tail, should he 
 considerable, and in a horse intended for quick 
 
THE FORE LEG. II 
 
 work, it should run more in a horizontal than a 
 perpendicular direction. In the Irish horse, this 
 part is short, and instead of proceeding" almost 
 directly backwards, suddenly droops, and though 
 such a conformation does not unfit him for trot- 
 ting, or drawing, or even leaping, and is even 
 an advantage for an upright leap, yet he cannot 
 in the gallop compete with the English horse, 
 whose croup is long, and very little inclined 
 downwards. 
 
 The quarters are never too extensive from before 
 backwards, nor deep from above downward, nor 
 are they ever too much spread out laterally. A 
 great deal is done by the hind legs, and the 
 quarters should in every case be as expanded 
 and well furnished with muscles as possible. 
 When the haunch bone projects more than usual, 
 the horse is said to be " ragged hipped," and is 
 commonly objected to for it. But as this bone, 
 by spreading well out, affords plenty of room 
 for the attachment of muscles, it cannot be said 
 to be a fault. When it appears so, the loins are 
 the seat of that fault. They are too narrow. 
 
 The Fore Leg. 
 In the saddle horse, and where safety is desir- 
 
12 
 
 THE FORE LEG. 
 
 able, the position of the fore leg is worthy of 
 attention. It should be placed well forward, and 
 descend perpendicularly to the ground, the toe 
 being nearly in a line with the point of the 
 shoulder. The pasterns should neither be turned 
 in nor out. When they are turned inwards, the 
 horse is in general very liable to cut the fetlock 
 joint by striking the opposite foot against it. 
 The draught horse may be excused, though he 
 leans a little over his fore legs, but the saddle 
 horse will be apt to stumble if he does so. 
 
 The shoulder should, like the hind quarter, be 
 extensive, well covered with muscle, and in the 
 saddle horse, where rapid and extensive action 
 is required, it should slant from the withers to 
 the breast. The neck should join the shoulder 
 in such a manner as to seem to run into it. But 
 the draught horse's shoulder should be, and usually 
 is, more upright, that the collar may sit well upon 
 it. The setting on of the neck is more distinct 
 in the draught than in the saddle horse, the 
 shoulder bone being more upright ; and the mus- 
 cles taking a diflFerent direction make the shoulder 
 swell out abruptly, and form a seat upon which 
 the collar conveniently rests. 
 
 The elbow should be wide from before back- 
 
THE FORE LEG. 13 
 
 wards — the space between it and the knee rather 
 long", and well supplied with muscles — the knee 
 should be broad from before backwards, and 
 straight : when it is bent forward, the horse is said 
 to be " bent before," and it is, in general, a 
 symptom that he has endured some hard work, 
 and his sure-footedness cannot be depended upon. 
 When the knee is bent backwards, it is called a 
 " calf knee," and though it is an ugly fault, I am 
 not aware that it is any thing more, although it 
 is possible there may be a little loss of power in 
 the muscles that bend it. Below the knee the 
 leg should be fine, and flat in back and front, 
 and broad from before backwards. The back 
 tendons should stand equally well out from the 
 knee to the fetlock. 
 
 The pasterns in the very heavy draught horse, 
 are, in general, short and nearly upright : and it 
 is necessary that they should be so, in order to 
 uphold his huge frame; but in the racer, they 
 are long and slanting, in order that, by giving 
 way at every step of the animal, the shock ac- 
 companying rapid motion may be destroyed. 
 The purchaser must, therefore, look for a horse, 
 whose pasterns have the proper degree of obli- 
 quity for the purpose the horse is to be used for. 
 
14 THE HIND LEO. 
 
 If the pastern be too long, the leg is very liable 
 to strain, and even the horse to break down 
 when urged to the top of his speed. If it be too 
 upright, the action of the horse is stilly, and very- 
 unpleasant to the rider. And besides that, such 
 horses are, from the concussion they are liable 
 to, very subject to diseases of the bones below 
 the knee, such as ring bones, splints, &c. 
 
 The foot should be as nearly round as possible, 
 smooth, and displaying no signs of brittleness by 
 pieces being broken and chipped off by the nails ; 
 the sole should be bat moderately concave ; 
 when flat, it is objectionable, and particularly 
 so in the heavy, high actioned horse, for there is 
 then a probability, of its becoming convex. 
 
 The Hind Leg. 
 
 I have already spoken of the quarter. The 
 part between the stifle and hock joint, commonly 
 called the thigh, should be long, and, above all, 
 supplied with abundance of muscle. 
 
 he hock should be broad from before back- 
 wards, because when it is so, it shows that a lever 
 (the point of the hock) is long, and, consequently, 
 
THE HIND LEG. 35 
 
 the muscles that act upon it will have more power 
 to extend the leg. And as it is by the extension 
 of the leg" that the animal is projected in the 
 gallop and leap, it is of importance that the hock 
 be broad, and the point projecting backward, in 
 the horse wanted for quick work. The hock 
 should likewise in the same animal be well bent 
 under him. When the hocks lean towards each 
 other, the horse is said to be " cat hammed," or 
 " cow hocked." It is most common in ponies ; 
 but setting aside its ugliness, it is not a serious 
 defect : indeed it is commonly thought to make 
 the animal a good trotter. It is certain, that a 
 hock bent outwards is more objectionable, for the 
 weight of the carcase is then like a person placed 
 between two stools. Below the hock, the back 
 tendons and the pasterns should be the same as 
 in the fore leg. 
 
 Short as this account of the conformation of 
 the horse is, it might have been still shorter, for 
 it is a fact, that the existence of one good point 
 is in general sufficient to ensure the possession or 
 another or others. A good shoulder, for instance, 
 rarely goes without good withers, a deep chest, 
 and a well-turned fore leg : but as it sometimes 
 does, I have briefly particularized all that is com- 
 
16 SOUNDNESS. 
 
 nionly deemed most essential in the formation of 
 a good useful horse. I must now proceed to 
 speak of the proper method of examining him 
 for disease. But first, a few words on the nature 
 of soundness, unsoundness, and the laws relating 
 to warranty. 
 
 Soundness. 
 
 At first view it seems easy enough to define a 
 sound horse. It may be said that a horse is 
 sound, when every part of him is in perfect 
 health : but, upon further consideration, it will 
 appear, that such a definition would be of little 
 or no practical utility; for scarcely a seven year 
 old in the kingdom could be fairly said to answer 
 to it. The most trifling splent, or even a wart, 
 no matter how small, or where placed, are devia- 
 tions from health, and would make a horse unfit to 
 be warranted, if such a definition of the term sound 
 were to be adopted. It must therefore be quali- 
 fied in order to be useful, and that the buyer and 
 seller may be placed upon something like an 
 equal footing. This, however, is not so easily 
 done, for a horse is liable to several trifling dis- 
 
SOUNDNESS. 17 
 
 eases, which do not in the least incapacitate hira ; 
 and yet it is difficult, I think I may almost say '» 
 impossible, to define soundness in such a way as| 
 to admit those, without, at the same time, ad-l 
 mitting others of greater consequence : and, on '_ 
 the other hand, it is as difficult to define unsound- 
 ness, so as to embrace all those diseases or faults 
 which deteriorate the animal, without likewise 
 including many that do not. Under such circum- 
 stances, a middle course is the most advisable, 
 and though there must be some outstanding 
 points, yet they are so seldom met with, that 
 they may be left to the decision of the lawyer or 
 the veterinary surgeon, according to circum- 
 stances. It is evident, however, that natural 
 defects in the conformation, temper, or action of 
 the animal must not be considered as unsound- 
 nesses. There is difi^erence of opinion and strife 
 enough in horse-dealing already, and to intro- 
 duce the doctrine, that a natural defect is an 
 unsoundness, would not diminish it. Nothing 
 but the existence of disease of one kind or an- 
 other can in justice be so considered. I think the 
 definition most likely to be generally useful, and 
 most impartial to both buyer and seller, is this : 
 —A horse is sound, when there is no disease 
 
18 SOUNDNESS. 
 
 about any part of him, that renders, or is likely 
 in future to render him, less useful than he would 
 be without it. And, of course, «'t horse must be 
 unsound, when he has any disease about him, 
 that renders, or is likely in future to render him, 
 less useful than he would be without it. 
 
 Before I proceed further, perhaps I had better 
 explain what the word disease means ; lest it 
 prove as great a puzzler as unsoundness itself. 
 It may be shortly stated to mean deviation from 
 the healthy structure, or function, or both, of a 
 part or the whole of the frame. Every part of 
 an animal has a texture or structure peculiar to 
 itself in health, and every part has its duty or 
 function to perform ; and every part is subject 
 to alteration in structure, and interruption in 
 function : and thus we have two kinds of disease. 
 An example will illustrate this. It is the duty 
 of the liver to make bile, to answer a certain 
 purpose in the animal economy : but if the bile 
 is made so deficient in quantity or quality as not 
 to serve that purpose, then we say there is a 
 functional disease of the liver. Again, if the 
 liver be altered in bulk, or hardened or softened, 
 or in any other way deviates from its natural 
 and healthy texture, then we say there is organic 
 
SOUNDNESS. 19 
 
 disease of the liver. Every part of the body is 
 liable to these two kinds of disease, and either 
 may exist separately or combined in the same 
 part. It is their union in an important part, that 
 in general makes a horse unsound. Some veter- 
 inarians therefore say, that " alterations of struc- 
 ture, attended with interruption or impairment 
 in function, constitute unsoundness." But I do 
 not adopt such a definition, because, in my opin- 
 ion, it is not sufficiently comprehensive on the 
 one hand, and is too much so on the other. Of 
 course, it excludes those diseases where altered 
 function is not combined with altered texture, 
 and hence several undoubted unsoundnesses are 
 out of its reach, such as glass eyes, partial palsy, 
 crib-biting, &c., where there is no perceptible 
 alteration in structure ; and even mange, and 
 some stages of glanders are not comprehended 
 in it, because, though there may be, and generally 
 is, alteration of structure united with impairment 
 in function, yet a slight alteration in the function 
 of the part where the disease is seated, does not 
 in every case interfere with the horse's capability 
 for work. Still these diseases constitute un- 
 soundness : the one will sooner or later destroy 
 the animal, while there is little chance of the 
 
20 SOUNDNESS. 
 
 Other being cured, without the owner's losing 
 some of the horse's service. A mangy horse 
 cannot be used upon every occasion : his owner 
 cannot with decency ride him in the field, neither 
 can he harness him along with another horse 
 without the risk of infecting him likewise. More 
 might be said against this definition, and much 
 against some at present adopted by eminent 
 veterinarians : and, indeed, something may be 
 urged against every definition of unsoundness 
 that we can possibly frame. The only way of 
 proceeding, is to use that which a majority would 
 decide to be the most useful. Intercourse be- 
 tween experienced veterinarians has, till within 
 these few years, been exceedingly limited, and 
 hence advancement has not been so rapid as it 
 could be wished. But the establishment of a 
 useful periodical has done much, and will, by and 
 by, do more. In the mean time, I think it is 
 better, in defining unsoundness, to use disease, 
 and let that word express deviation from healthy 
 structure, or function, or both, of any part, or 
 the whole of the body. Hoping I have spoken 
 sufiiciently plain on this head to be understood 
 by non-professional men (for I wrote only for 
 them,) I shall now proceed to the 
 
SALE AND WARRANTY, 21 
 
 Laws relating to Sale and Warranty. 
 
 And as the following extract from the " Vete- 
 rinarian," as quoted from the " Law Magazine" 
 for October, 1828, comprises all that I can say 
 upon the subject, I shall insert it as it stands. 
 
 " Lawsuits, it has been justly remarked, origi- 
 nate less frequently in the positive dishonesty 
 and bad faith of the litigants, than in their gross 
 misconception of each other's rights and liabilities. 
 We therefore conceive, that an occasional pur- 
 chaser, would often, by a very slight acquaintance 
 with the first principles of the law of sales and 
 warranties, be not only delivered from much 
 anxiety in negotiating this awfully delicate bar- 
 gain, but he also, in many instances, would escape 
 the misery of being driven to contend for his 
 rights in the dreaded arena of a court of justice. 
 Our observations on warranty shall be preceded 
 by a cursory view of the general contract of sale 
 itself, in the course of which we shall select for 
 our more particular notice, out of the multitude 
 of rules by which this contract is more or less 
 directly governed, a few that are marked by some 
 degree either of difficulty or peculiarity in their 
 
22 SALE AND WARRANTY. 
 
 application to our subject-matter, and a few others 
 of primary importance, though not similarly dis- 
 tinguished ; being compelled to a selection of 
 some sort, by the obvious impossibility of even 
 alluding, in the compass of a few pages, to a 
 hundredth part of the incidents which ought to 
 be treated of in a regular dissertation on this 
 subject. 
 
 " A sale is defined by Blackstone to be 'a 
 transmutation of property from one man to 
 another, in consideration of some price or recom- 
 pense in value.' But the terms of this definition, 
 as the celebrated commentator immediately sub- 
 joins, are evidently too comprehensive, as they 
 embrace the case of an exchange as well. A 
 transmutation of property for a pecuniary consi- 
 deration, seems, therefore, to be the proper defi- 
 nition of a sale. It is a transmutation of the 
 right oi property in goods, let it be remarked, as 
 contradistinguished from the mere right of pos- 
 session. 
 
 " To enable society to enforce the obligations 
 resulting from such an engagement, some satis- 
 factory remarks are obviously requisite, of the 
 mutual consent of the contracting parties hav- 
 ing existed in a serious and deliberate form. 
 
DELIVERY AND ACCEPTANCE. 23 
 
 By the Statute of Frauds it is enacted, ' that no 
 contract for the sale of any goods, wares, or 
 merchandize, for the price of £10 or upwards, 
 shall be allowed to be good, except the buyer 
 shall accept part of the goods so sold, and actually 
 receive the same, or give something in earnest to 
 bind the bargain, or in part of payment ; or that 
 some note, or memorandum, in writing, of the 
 said bargain, be made and signed by the parties 
 to be charged by such contract, or their agents 
 thereunto lawfully authorized.' " 
 
 In regard to Delivery and Acceptance. 
 
 " It is necessary to observe, that a manual 
 transfer or actual delivery and acceptance is not 
 in every case essential ; for the law will often, 
 from certain acts, imply a delivery to satisfy the 
 statute. In the case, e. g., where the plaintiff, 
 who kept a livery stable and dealt in horses, was 
 in treaty with the defendant for the sale of two 
 horses, and the defendant offered a less sum than 
 was demanded, but at length sent word that 
 ' the horses were his, but that, as he had neither 
 servant nor stable, the plaintiff must keep them 
 at livery for him.' The plaintiff, upon this, re- 
 
24 EARNEST. 
 
 moved them out of his sale stable into another 
 stable; and it Avas held that there was here a 
 sufl&cient delivery to satisfy the statute. The 
 key to this and similar cases, seems to be, that 
 the vender, by the terms of the bargain, is con- 
 verted into an agent for the vendee, and thus 
 occupies the double character of principal during 
 the sale and servant upon its completion. It is 
 also sufficient evidence of a delivery, if a purcha- 
 ser, with the privity and approbation of the ven- 
 der, exercises any act of ownership over the 
 goods, though their local situation remains 
 unchanged ; as by selling, (or even showing the 
 animal out for sale) to a third person, or marking 
 the animal in any manner. Delivery to a ser- 
 vant or agent, is equivalent to a delivery to the 
 employer himself. 
 
 In regard to Earnest. 
 " It would seem, that giving a piece of money, 
 however low its value, (supposing it to be < alto- 
 gether parted with,') is sufficient to bind the bar- 
 gain. 
 
 In regard to any signed Note or Memorandum. 
 " It may be useful to observe, that, although 
 
SIGNED NOTE OR MEMORANDUM. 25 
 
 the names of both parties must appear upon the 
 face of the memorandum, or at least, in some 
 writing capable of being connected therewith by 
 sound legal inference, yet the signature of the 
 party sought to be charged, or of his agent is 
 sufficient; and this term, signaturCy be it observed, 
 is not here used in the limited sense of suhscrip' 
 Hon, so as to require the party to sign his name 
 at the end of the instrument, but is equally appli- 
 cable in whatever part the name is written. 
 Whether sales by public auction are within the 
 Statute of Frauds has long been a disputed point, 
 the later opinion is in favour of their being so ; 
 and it therefore becomes necessary to mention 
 here, that the auctioneer, is, in such sales, the 
 agent of both parties. 
 
 " Upon the regular completion of the sale, the 
 property in the article is transferred to, and ab- 
 solutely vested in the vendee; and the purchaser, 
 thenceforward, stands by all risks, and is the sole 
 sufferer from any injury which may happen to 
 the animal, otherwise than through the negligence 
 of the vender. As in the example given by 
 Blackstone: If A sells a horse to B for £10, 
 and B pays him earnest, or signs a note in writ- 
 ing of the bargain, and afterwards, before the 
 
Sft- WARRANTY. 
 
 delivery of the horse or money paid, the horse 
 dies in the vender's custody, still he is entitled to 
 the money, because by the contract the property 
 is in the vendee. 
 
 But, although the right oi property is thus ab- 
 solutely transferred by the contract, yet, unless 
 payment be expressly postponed to a future day, 
 the buyer will not be entitled to possession^ with- 
 out tendering the stipulated price.* 
 
 Warranty, 
 " We now come to the important doctrine of 
 Warranty^ which is thus summed up by Lord 
 
 * The principles of the Law of Scotland, in regard to the 
 constitution of the contract of sale, differ considerably from 
 those of the Law of England, as stated in the preceding 
 paragraphs. There is no statutory enactment in Scotland 
 similar to the statute of fraud in England, and matters are 
 left to be ruled by the common law, according to which, the 
 contract or hargain is fully completed so as to prevent resil- 
 ing, without either earnest, delivery, or note of sale. But 
 although a simple verbal bargain is thus binding on the 
 parties, so that neither can draw back, the other being will- 
 ing and able to perform his part, the property of the thing 
 sold is not passed without delivery, contrary to the English 
 rule, which holds the property to have passed immediately 
 on the bargain being completed. The practical result, how- 
 ever, of the two laws, as to this last-mentioned particular, is 
 nearly the same, as the rules in England as to the right to 
 obtain possession, place matters on almost the same footing 
 as the principle of the Law of Scotland as to the property 
 not being passed till delivery. 
 
WARRANTY. 27 
 
 Coke. ' By the civil law, every person is bound 
 to warrant the thing that he sells or conveys, 
 although there is no express warranty ; but the 
 common law binds him not, unless there be a 
 warranty either in deed or in law, for caveat 
 emptor ; the meaning of which Latin expression 
 is, that the buyer takes the article sold, with all 
 its defects, and must not look to the law for any 
 redress, if its intrinsic worth do not correspond 
 with its outward appearance. It cautions the 
 buyer, therefore, according to the Italian proverb, 
 that he has need of a hundred eyes, but the sel- 
 ler of only one.' " 
 
 '• By the law of England, warranties are 
 divided into express or implied ; the latter, how- 
 ever, differ in no respect from the former, except 
 in the circumstance of proof. The intention to 
 warrant, is collected from the whole tissue of 
 circumstances proved, and as a legitimate deduc- 
 tion from them, like the presumption of any other 
 part not established by direct evidence: while 
 the express warranty is proved by direct and 
 express testimony to the fact itself. To give a 
 single instance : In Jones v. Bowden, it was 
 proved to be the uniform course and habit of 
 dealing in a particular place, if the article were 
 
28 WARRANTY. 
 
 sea- dam aged, to state that fact on the sale of it; 
 a sale was made without any such statment, and 
 it was therefore held that the article was war- 
 ranted not sea-damaged. This was an implied 
 warranty."* 
 
 " A warranty can only exist as a term and 
 condition of the contract of sale, into the very 
 essence of which it so completely enters, that a 
 breach of it entitles the buyer to treat, if he 
 pleases, the whole contract as a nullity. It con- 
 stitutes part of the inducement or consideration 
 for the purchase. It follows that, for a warranty 
 to be valid, it must exist or be made at the time 
 of the sale ; or at least, that, being agreed to be 
 made before, there should be an understood 
 
 * In Scotland, warranty, or warrandice as it is termed in 
 Scotch law phraseology, is always implied in the contract of 
 sale, (unless, perhaps, excluded by the special practice of 
 particular trades,) and therefore if the seller intend not to 
 wari'ant, this must be expressly stipulated in the contract. 
 The wari-andice thus implied in all contracts of sale extends 
 not only to the soundness of the animal sold, and its being free 
 from vice, but also to its fitness for the special pui'poses for 
 which it has been sold, when that purpose has been specified 
 in the bargain ; and, if two horses have been sold as a pair, 
 even although not for running together in harness, if one 
 of them should prove unsound or unfit, so as to authorize 
 his being returned, the purchaser will be entitled to return 
 both. 
 
WARRANTY. 29 
 
 reference at the actual sale to that agreement. 
 As for instance, if, previous to the time of sale, 
 the vender says he ivill warrant the goods, and 
 having named his price, gives the vendee two 
 or three days to consider of it, and the vender 
 then agrees to purchase, the warranty, though 
 only made hypothetically, is tacitly incorporated 
 into the terms of the sale, and is a valid warranty. 
 
 " But a warranty made after the completion 
 of the sale is of no value whatever, being with- 
 out any consideration. 
 
 " From these premises also, coupled with the 
 rule, that where a contract is reduced to writing, 
 the writing is the sole legitimate evidence to 
 prove its terms, we may further deduce, that an 
 oral warranty made previously to a sale by 
 written contract, but not inserted in the instru- 
 ment, will not be valid. Thus in Pickering v. 
 Dowson, Gibbs, C. J., says, ' I hold that if a man 
 brings me a horse, and makes any representation 
 whatever of his quality and soundness, and after- 
 wards we agree in writing for the purchase of 
 the horse, that shortens and corrects the repre- 
 sentations ; and whatever terms are not contained 
 in the contract do not bind the seller, and must 
 be struck out of the case.' " 
 
30 WARRANTY. 
 
 " It is also a rule of law, that where a com- 
 mission is given to execute any work, every 
 power necessary to carry it on will be implied. 
 A servant, therefore, employed to sell a horse, 
 has an implied authority to warrant that it is 
 sound ; and in the case of a general agent — for 
 example, the servant of a livery-stable keeper — 
 this warranty will bind the master though made 
 contrary to his express directions ; and in every 
 case, the warranty of a servant or agent, so 
 intrusted to sell, will bind the principal, if he do 
 not expressly prohibit it being made. 
 
 " With respect to what declarations of the 
 seUer will amount to a warranty, the primary 
 rule for the interpretation of contracts in general 
 is applicable. It depends upon the intention of 
 the parties. 
 
 " Thus a simple affirmation of the goodness 
 of an article is a warranty, provided it appear to 
 have been so intended; whereas the sublimest 
 epithets that seller ever employed to recommend 
 his goods to a credulous buyer, will be regarded 
 as the idle phraseology of the market, unless an 
 intention to warrant actually appear. For exam- 
 ple, when the vender declared at the time of 
 sale, that he could warrant, it was held to mean 
 
WARRANTY. 31 
 
 that he would and did warrant. So when the 
 seller aflSrms that the goods are his property, he 
 is held to warrant the title. And, on the other 
 hand, when at the time of sale the seller showed 
 the huyer a written pedigree, which he had 
 received from the person of whom he bought the 
 horse, and said he sold him according to that 
 pedigree, the mark being out of his mouth when 
 he bought him, and the pedigree was proved to 
 be false ; it was held that this was no warranty. 
 No general rule, therefore, can be laid down on 
 the present head, further than this — that it is 
 from the intention of the parties, as collected from 
 the whole transaction, and from the meaning 
 they appear to afford to particular expressions, 
 that the existence or non-existence of a warranty 
 is to be inferred. 
 
 " But the most important part of our investi- 
 gation relates to the extent of the warranty. We 
 must here observe, in the first place, that although 
 a warranty may be made to extend to temper, 
 freedom from blemish, age, aptitude for parti- 
 cular work, and many other similar qualities, as 
 well as to soundness ; yet unless expressly so 
 extended, it will be construed to apply to sound- 
 ness alone. Thus, when an ambiguity arose from 
 
32 WARRANTY. 
 
 the insular position of the word * warranted' in 
 the following notice: ' To be sold, a black geld- 
 ing, five years old ; has been constantly driven 
 in the plough — warranted,' the warranty was 
 held to apply to soundness alone. 
 
 " Unsoundness is a term the exact limits of 
 which are not very clearly defined. According 
 to Lord Ellenborough, any infirmity which 
 renders a horse less fit for present use or con- 
 venience, is an unsoundness. This doctrine was 
 laid down by his lordship in a case which turned 
 upon an alleged lameness, and wherein it was 
 admitted by a witness for the defendant, that one 
 of the fore legs had been bandaged, because it 
 was weaker than the other : upon this admission, 
 the verdict in favour of the plaintiff seems to 
 have been founded : and it was then observed by 
 the court to constitute unsoundness, it is not 
 essential that the infirmity should be of a per» 
 manent nature ; it is sufl&cient if it render the 
 animal for the time unfit for service; as for instance, 
 a cough, which renders it for the time less use- 
 ful, and may ultimately prove fatal. Now this 
 decision appears to contradict a prior one, in 
 which Eyre, C. J., held, that a slight lameness 
 occasioned by the horse having taken up a nail 
 
WARRANTY. 33 
 
 at the farrier's was not an unsoundness. This 
 learned judge, in his observations to his jury, 
 remarks — ' a horse labouring under a temporary- 
 injury or hurt, which is capable of being speedily 
 cured or removed, is not for that an unsound 
 horse within the meaning of the warranty.' If 
 these decisions are not to be regarded as con- 
 flicting, one deduction ought possibly to be, that 
 such slight injuries as proceed from external 
 causes, and are with moral certainty to be 
 speedily and effectually cured, do not fall under 
 the head of infirmities, which term properly com- 
 prehends such diseases only as may without much 
 improbability hang by the animal through life, 
 while they impair his present usefulness. 
 
 " Crib-biting, in its incipient state, has been 
 held to be no unsoundness ; but, when inveterate, 
 (and interfering with the health of the animal,} 
 it then falls within the meaning of the term. 
 
 *' It is commonly asserted that a warranty 
 will not bind when it is obviously false ; the 
 instance given being that of a horse warranted 
 sound, when it is apparent that he is blind ; and 
 for this doctrine, the venerable argument, which 
 makes so conspicuous a figure in legal logic, is 
 usually urged — for that it is his own folly. For 
 
34 WARRANTY. 
 
 that it is the other's roguery ^ might, we think, be 
 an argument of greater cogency the other way, 
 unless knaves in this country are to be regarded 
 with peculiar favour, like idiots in Turkey; but 
 we apprehend that this rule, if any such indeed 
 exist, is one of presumption only, it being inferred 
 that both parties meant to exclude the particular 
 defect from the warranty. The case of Shillitoe 
 V. Claridge, however, goes far towards disproving 
 the existence of such a rule.* 
 
 " Let us now consider how the rights of the 
 parties are affected by the horse being unsound 
 
 " Shillitce V. Claridge, -where the horse had a cough at 
 the time of the sale, it appeared that he had been bled for it 
 before he was sold, and there was no evidence of any mis- 
 management by the buyer ; and it appeared he was told that 
 the horse had a cough, and was used only to the road, and 
 that he had sent him to the hunt. Lord EUenborough : ' If 
 it had the cough, and it was of a permanent nature, I have 
 always held that it was a breach of the warranty ; and such 
 has, I believe, been the understanding both in the profession 
 and amongst veterinary surgeons. On that understanding 
 I have always acted, and think it quite right. Knowledge 
 makes no difference. There was a case before Mr. J. Law- 
 rence in which it was held, and it was there said, that the 
 plaintiff might rely upon the warranty only, and not choose 
 to trust to his own knowledge. I have ahvays understood 
 that a cough is an unsoundness ; the horse then was unsound 
 when he was bought, and there was no proof of any discon- 
 tinuance of that unsoundness, or that he would have got 
 j^rell if be had not been hunted.' " 
 
WARRANTY. 35 
 
 at th6 time of warranty. The contract being 
 thus broken on the part of the seller, it is at the 
 buyer's option either to treat it as a nullity, and 
 return the horse, or to retain him notwithstand- 
 ing", and bring an action on the warranty.* In 
 the former case, the price paid is the measure of 
 damages, which he will be entitled to recover in 
 an action ; in the latter, the difference between 
 that price and his real value. If he offer to 
 rescind the contract, and return the horse, he 
 may also recover the expenses of his keep ; but 
 in order to this, a positive tender is said to be 
 necessary.f No notice of the unsoundness need 
 be given to the vender to entitle the vendee to 
 maintain the action ; nor is it necessary to bring 
 
 * In Scotland the purchaser cannot retain the horse 
 and hring an action to I'ecover the difference between the 
 price and the real value. He must either keep him at the 
 price at which he has bought him, or return him on getting 
 repayment, and if he have further suffered direct damage 
 from the unsoundness, &c., of the horse, he will also have 
 an action, of damages for reparation. 
 
 f As in the case of Caswell v. Coare, " where upon breach 
 of the warranty proved, but no tender made of returning the 
 horse, it was objected that plaintiff could recover nothing 
 for the keep. Lord Mansfield : ' The contract being broken, 
 the defendant must give back the money, and the plaintiff 
 must return the horse ; but unless he has previously ten- 
 dered him, he cannot recover for the keep, because it was 
 not the defendant's fault that the plaintiff kept him.' '* 
 
36 WARRANTY. 
 
 the action immediately on discovering the un- 
 soundness."* 
 
 * As in the case of Fielder v. Starkin, where an action 
 was brought " on the warranty of a mare, * that she was 
 sound, quiet, and free from vice and blemish.' Soon after 
 the sale, the plaintiff discovered that she was unsound and 
 vicious; viz., a roarer, had a thorough pin through the hack, 
 and had a swelled hock from kicking ; but kept her three 
 months, and gave her physic, and used other means to cure 
 her ; at ^'^'hich time he sold her, but had her soon after re- 
 turned as unsound, when he returned her to the defendant 
 as unsound, who refused to receive her. On her way back 
 she died ; and upon being examined, it was the opinion of 
 the farriers that she had been unsound a full twelvemonth 
 before her death ; but it did not appear that the plaintiff had 
 ever in the interval, though in the defendant's company, 
 complained of the mare being imsound. Lord Loughbor- 
 ough : — ' Where there is an express warranty, the warran- 
 ter undertakes that it is true at the time of making it. If a 
 horse which is warranted sound at the time of sale, be 
 proved to have been at that time unsound, it is not necessary 
 that he should be returned to the seller. No length of time 
 elapsed after the sale will alter the nature of a contract 
 originally false, neither is notice necessary to be given ; 
 though the not giving notice will be a strong presumption 
 against the buyer that the horse at the time of sale had not 
 the defect complained of, and will make the proof on his 
 part much more difficult. The bargain is complete ; and if 
 fraudulent on the part of the seller, he wUl be liable to the 
 buyer in damages, without either a return or notice. If, on 
 account of a horse warranted sound, the buyer should sell 
 him again at a loss, an action might perhaps be sustained 
 against the orignal seller, to recover the difference of the 
 price. In the present case, it appears, from the evidence oi 
 the farriers who saw the mare opened, that she must have 
 
WARRANTY. 37 
 
 " But although such notice be not essential, 
 yet it is always advisable to be given, as the 
 omitting to do so will furnish at the trial a strong 
 presumption that the horse, at the time of sale, 
 was free from the defect complained of, thus 
 rendering the proof of a breach of warranty more 
 difficult. Common justice and honesty, it has 
 been remarked, require that the commodity 
 should be returned at the earliest period, and 
 before it has been so changed by lapse of time, 
 as to make it impossible to ascertain, by proper 
 tests, what were its original qualities.* 
 
 been unsound at the time of the sale to the plaintiiF." 
 Plaintiff recovered the full price. 
 
 The principle of the Law of Scotland is very different 
 from this ; a purchaser is bound so soon as he discovers a 
 defect, to give notice to the seller, and offer to return him, 
 and if he neglect this, he will be held to have acquiesced, 
 and win be barred from afterwards throwing him back on 
 the seller. The exact time after coming to the knowledge 
 of the defect, within which the purchaser must offer to re- 
 turn, has never been precisely fixed, but there must be no 
 undue delay, and the sooner a purchaser gives notice the 
 better. 
 
 * As in the case of Curtis v. Hannay, " where, after the 
 sale of a horse warranted, the purchaser was informed of a 
 defect in the eyes ; but he kept him for nearly seven weeks, 
 in which time, suspecting the horse to have some defect in 
 his feet, he had applied a blister and other medicines, which 
 D 
 
•38 WAKRANIY. 
 
 To entitle the buyer to the benefit of the 
 warranty, he must, of course, strictly fulfil the 
 
 produced thrush and a considerable degree of lameness ; it 
 was, however, only temporary ; and it was in evidence, that 
 the remedies applied to the feet could not have affected the 
 eyes. Lord Eldon thought the matter set up by the defen- 
 dant no answer to the action. < The question was, would 
 the horse, when retui'ned to the seller, be diminished in 
 value by this doctoring? If he would, he thought the de- 
 fendant should pay the price, and bring his action against 
 the seller for any defect in the warranty existing at tne time 
 of the sale. He took it to be clear law, that if a person pur- 
 chased a horse which is warranted, and it afterwards turns 
 out that the horse was unsound at the time of the warranty, 
 the buyer, might, if he pleased, keep the horse, and bring 
 an action on the warranty, in which he would have a right 
 to recover the difference between the value of a sound horse 
 and one with such defects as existed at the time of the war- 
 ranty, or he might return the horse, and bring an action to 
 recover the full money paid ; but in the latter case, the sel- 
 ler had a right to expect that the horse should be returned 
 in the same state he was in when sold, and not by any means 
 diminished in value ; for if a person keeps a warranted arti- 
 cle for any length of time after discovering its defects, and 
 when he returns it, it is in a worse state than it would have 
 been if returned immediatelj^ after such discovery, the party 
 can have no defence to an action for the price of the article, 
 on the ground of non-compliance with the warranty, but 
 must be left to his action on the warranty to recover the dif- 
 ference in the value of the article warranted, and its actual 
 value when sold.' His Lordship directed to find for the 
 price of the horse, if they thought that by such blistering 
 and doctoring the animal was not diminished in value to a 
 future purchaser ; and they found accordingly." 
 
WAHRANTY. 39 
 
 conditions stipulated to be performed on his 
 part. Thus if, as is frequently the case, a con- 
 dition be introduced into the warranty, that the 
 horse, if objected to as unsound, shall be returned 
 within a limited time, no action can be main- 
 tained for the unsoundness without the strict 
 performance of this condition. So where the 
 warranty was qualified by the vender by an 
 undertaking to take back the horse, if, on trial, 
 he should be found to have any of the defects 
 mentioned in the warranty, it was held, that the 
 buyer must return the horse immediately on the 
 discovery of them. When the contract is re- 
 scinded by the buyer on account of the warranty 
 being broken, the seller has a right to require 
 that the horse shall be returned in as good 
 condition as he was when the defect was dis- 
 covered ; and therefore, if the animal fall into a 
 worse state subsequently to such discovery, the buyer 
 cannot then return him, but must rely on his action 
 to recover back a proportional part of the price. 
 
 " There being no warranty, but the pur- 
 chaser having been imposed upon, and entrapped 
 into a losing bargain by the artifices and wilful 
 misrepresentations of the seller, his remedy is 
 an action for the deceit ; to support which he 
 
40 WARRANTY. 
 
 mtist prove a fraud to have been committed by 
 the seller, and also that it was suck as might well 
 impose upon a person of ordinary circumspection ; 
 or, in other words, that he was deceived and 
 misled by relying upon the integrity of the seller, in 
 a point where he might reasonably have placed 
 trust and confidence in him. 
 
 '* Any wilful misrepresentations by the vender, of 
 the qualities of the commodity to be sold, whereby 
 the vendee is induced to purchase, falls within the 
 legal idea of fraud, and will vitiate the contract ; 
 as being a breach of that good faith which ought 
 to reign throughout every commercial transac- 
 tion. This may be called fraud in words. 
 Thus if A, knowing his horse to be broken- 
 winded or lame, induce B to purchase, by an 
 assurance that he is sound in wind and limb, 
 then although A may have expressly refused 
 to warrant, B will nevertheless be entitled to 
 recover from A in an action for the deceit. It 
 is obvious, however, that this action could not be 
 here maintained upon mere proof of the abstract 
 falseness of the representation made by the 
 seller ; but that evidence of the moral falsehood 
 is requisite — the seller's knowledge of the falsity, 
 that is called, in technical language, the scienter. 
 
WARRANTY. 
 
 41 
 
 And herein it is, principally, that this action is 
 distinguished from actions on breach of warranty; 
 for the warranty extends to all faults, known or 
 unknown to the seller. 
 
 " The other kind of fraud may be termed 
 fraud in deed; and we shall conclude this article 
 by producing an instance which may serve to 
 exemplify the nature of those acts of the seller, 
 which would fall under this head, ' I remember,' 
 says Gibbs, C. J., ' the case of the sale of a 
 house in South Audley Square, where the seller, 
 being conscious of a defect in the main wall, 
 plastered it up, and papered it over ; and it was 
 held that, as the vender had expressly concealed 
 it, the purchaser might recover.' To extend 
 this principle to our subject-matter : — it is con- 
 ceived if the vender were to deceive the pur- 
 chaser, either as to colour, which may be easily 
 done by chemical means, or as to age, by (to 
 use a west-country phrase) bishopping the animal, 
 he would be liable for the deceit, although no 
 verbal representations had been made."* 
 
 * " If the vendei" knew the goods to be unsound, and hath 
 used any art to disguise them, or if they are in any shape 
 different from what he represents them to be to the buyer, 
 this artifice shall be equivalent to an express warranty, and 
 the vender is answerable for theij- goodness." — Blacksioiic' s 
 Commentarit'S. 
 
42 WARRANTY. 
 
 The warranty is generally included in the 
 receipt for the purchase money, and should run 
 thus : 
 
 " Glasgow, August 9d, 1833. 
 Received from A. B. the sum of thirty 
 pounds sterling for a Bay Gelding, warranted 
 Sound and free from Vice. 
 
 £30. C. D." 
 
 The animal's temper and abilities may also be 
 included, if the purchaser thinks proper. As 
 '* warranted sound, free from vice, quiet to ride 
 and drive, and a good leaper." Vice should 
 always be included, for a vicious horse is often 
 a worse bargain than an unsound one. And as 
 there is little probability of vice being discovered 
 by the purchaser prior to sale, unless a trial be 
 obtained and opportunity afforded of displaying 
 it, it is so much the more necessary that it should 
 be guarded against by the warranty. 
 
 A qualified warranty is one, in which the horse 
 is warranted sound, with the exception of some- 
 thing pointed out at the time of sale, and men- 
 tioned in the warranty : as for instance, " war- 
 ranted sound, excepting some tenderness of the 
 off fore foot." In this case, the horse cannot 
 be returned, though the lameness should turn 
 
WARRANTY. 43 
 
 out to be greater than the purchaser expected, 
 unless it can be proved that the seller took some 
 means to hide its real nature, as he might, and 
 sometimes does, by making the horse tender on 
 the sound foot. 
 
 With regard to vice, I would say a horse is 
 not free from it, when he has any thing in his 
 temper or habits that makes him more difficult 
 to manage, either in the stable or at work, than 
 he would be without it: and consequently, I 
 consider a horse warranted free from vice, 
 returnable, if he turn out a kicker, biter, rearer, 
 dangerous to shoe or clean, guilty of shying, run- 
 ning away, or of being dangerously or annoyingly 
 restive in any way. It is not always easy, how- 
 ever, to return a horse for any of these faults, 
 for, even though he may have been warranted 
 free from them, it is very difficult, often impossi- 
 ble, to prove that he possessed them before he 
 changed masters. 
 
 The purchaser, after selecting an animal, 
 whose height, form, age, and action, are most 
 suitably adapted for the work, will next proceed 
 to examine him for diseases that do, or are 
 likely to, make him less serviceable. 
 
 This scrutinizing process will be much sooner, 
 
44' THE HEAD AND NECK. 
 
 much better and more completely performed, 
 by proceeding in a systematic manner. Very 
 rarely indeed does a buyer pursue any method 
 in examining a horse. Even the majority of 
 dealers do nothing but look at the foot, back 
 tendons, teeth, give the horse a punch in the 
 ribs — and all is over : and then he takes upon 
 him to warrant the horse sound. The follow- 
 ing Table is an enumeration of the parts to be 
 examined, and the diseases most frequently 
 found in those parts. The order in which they 
 stand, is that in which I regard them myself, 
 when examining a warranted horse. 
 
 I. — The Head and Neck. 
 
 1. The Eyes, for Cataract, Glass eyes, and 
 specks. 
 
 2. The Nostrils, for Glanders, Tumours, and 
 cold. 
 
 3. The Glands between the branches of the 
 lower jaw, for Enlargement. 
 
 4. The Throat, for mark of Crib-biting stra]), 
 and the tenderness which accompanies cold. 
 
 5. The Teeth, for the Age, and marks of 
 Crib-biting. 
 
 6. The Veins of the Neck. See that both 
 are entire 
 
TRUNK AND QUARTERS. 45 
 
 II. — The Foreleg and Shoulder. 
 
 1. The Seat of the Collar, for tumours. 
 
 2. The point of the Elbow, for tumours. 
 
 3. The Knee, for blemishes, and stiffness of 
 that joint. 
 
 4. The Shank, for Speedy cut, Splent, and 
 Strain. 
 
 6. The Fetlock Joint, for Enlargement, 
 Windgalls, Unnerving, and marks of Cutting. 
 6. The Pastern for Ring bone. 
 
 III.-^ The Foot for 
 
 1. Sidebones, 
 
 2. Sand crack, 
 
 3. Contraction, 
 
 4. Thrush, 
 
 5. Corns, 
 
 6. Flat Soles. 
 
 7. The Shoe, for signs of Cutting. 
 
 IV. — The Trunk and Quarters. 
 
 1. Each side of the chest, for marks of blisters 
 and rowels. 
 
 2. The space between the fore legs, for the 
 same. 
 
 3. The Hip bones. See that both are equally 
 prominent. 
 
 4. The Stifle for Enlargement. 
 3. The Groin for rupture. 
 
^5 THE HOOK. 
 
 v.— The Hock. 
 
 1. Capped Hock. 
 
 2. Curb. 
 
 3. Thorough pin. 
 
 4. Bone Spavin. 
 
 5. Bog Spavin. 
 No blood Spavin. 
 
 Now let the horse be trotted, to see whether 
 or not he is free from 
 
 1. Lameness, 
 
 2. The effects of founder, 
 
 3. String Halt, 
 
 4. Weak Loins. 
 
 Then the horse should be mounted, and 
 ridden a few hundred yards at a gallop in order 
 to quicken his breathing, and thereby display 
 the presence or absence of 
 
 1. Roaring, wheezing, thick wind, &c. 
 
 2. Broken wind. 
 
 This brief summary will assist the memory, 
 bringing as it does the seat and causes of un- 
 soundness into one point of view. It includes 
 however, some objectionahles, which, properly 
 speaking, do not constitute unsoundness; such 
 
THE HOCK. 47 
 
 as windgalls, thorough pin, capped hock, and 
 stringlialt. The first two are objectionable, as 
 indicating that the horse has been severely ex- 
 erted, and may be otherwise more seriously in- 
 jured. The last two are eye-sores, and only to 
 be avoided as such. This will appear more 
 clearly presently. 
 
 I must now consider in detail, the different 
 diseases enumerated in the above Table. The 
 method of detecting them, must, in the first 
 place, be pointed out ; then those which constitute 
 unsoundness must be distinguished from those 
 that do not, and it will be proper now and then 
 to mention, how far a horse may be useful, ad- 
 mitting tliat he have one, or even two diseases, 
 that are unsoundnesses. In giving directions 
 however, for discovering unsoundnesses, I can 
 only go a certain length, for some of them re- 
 quire anatomical knowledge on the part of the 
 examiner, in order to discover their existence? 
 and even the possession of that advantage is not 
 at all times sufl&cient to enable him to give a 
 decided opinion, I shall endeavour, however, to 
 make myself as clearly understood, as the nature 
 of the subject will admit of. 
 
48 THE HEAD AND NECK. 
 
 The Read and Neck, 
 
 The Eyes, Examination of the eye for catar- 
 act, illustrates what I have just said on the ne- 
 cessity of possessing an anatomical knowledge of 
 parts. Cataract is a deep seated disease of the 
 eye, which often exists in such a trifling degree, 
 as, in many cases, to escape the scrutiny of the 
 most careful veterinarian. At first it is a small 
 white speck, situated at the bottom, not on the 
 transparent surface of the eye ; and this almost 
 invariably increases in size, till it produces com- 
 plete blindness ; and a white ball, spotted with 
 black, is then perceived, occupying a large por- 
 tion of the interior of the eye. Long before 
 total blindness takes place, the disease is visible 
 to the most common observer, and the horse is 
 said to have "Buck eyes." In its earlier stages, 
 it is best observed in the shade, for then the 
 pupil enlarges, and gives you a fuller view of 
 the bottom of the eye ; when it exists, a small 
 milk-white spot is seen, whitest and brightest in 
 the centre, the circumference of which passes 
 gradually into transparency. Care must be taken, 
 
THE HEAD AND NECK. 49 
 
 however, that this appearance be not prodaced 
 by the reflection of some external body opposed 
 to the eye. A white hat, or neckcloth, or a white 
 wall, for example, would produce an appearance 
 which a non-professional man might very readily 
 mistake for disease. To prevent such a blunder, 
 place the crown of your hat (if a black one) op- 
 posite the eye, and observe if the white mark 
 disappears, which it will, if merely a reflection. 
 
 Cataract, in all its stages, renders a horse un- 
 sound. Even when very small, vision is imper- 
 fect, and the horse is very apt to shy. But the 
 worst of it is, it goes on, in nine cases out of ten, 
 till total blindness is the result : and it requires 
 no great strength of reasoning to show, that a 
 blind horse is not so useful as a perfect one. 
 When the horse is destined to work with a com- 
 panion, as in a stage-coach, where the road is 
 clear, and the work done by day, a blind eye is 
 beyond comparison, a less evil than a perma- 
 nently lame leg. But ahorse blind of both eyes 
 is almost useless as a roadster, totally so as a 
 hunter, and all but so for a carrier's cart. So 
 that it will depend upon the price asked for the 
 animal, and the work he is wanted for, whether 
 
50 THE HEAD AND NECK. 
 
 the purchaser will reject or receive a horse par- 
 tially or totally blind. 
 
 Gutta Serena, or Glass Eyes, is a disease in 
 which the horse is quite blind, without any ap- 
 parent alteration in the structure of the eye. 
 The optic nerve is palsied, and insensible to the 
 rays of light. When it exists in both eyes, the 
 general appearance of the horse will at once 
 point out his lamentable condition — the rapid 
 motion of the ears — the high, yet cautious action 
 of the forelegs — and the extreme readiness with 
 which the animal yields to the least movement 
 of the bit. 
 
 When only one eye is affected with Gutta serena^ 
 it may be discovered by observing what is called 
 the pupil — the opening in the centre of the dark- 
 coloured part of the eyes. It will be found to 
 be considerably larger than the opening in the 
 living eye, and that opening does not contract 
 when the eye is opposed to a strong light. 
 In the other it does, and its contraction and 
 delatation is sufficient evidence of the optic nerve 
 being in health. 
 
 Gutta Serena is unsoundness ; but as It may 
 have come on in an instant, and consequently it 
 
THE NOSTRILS. 51 
 
 is impossible for a Veterinarian Surgeon to say 
 that it existed prior to sale, it behoves the pur- 
 chaser to guard well against it himself. 
 
 What I have said of the usefulness of a horse 
 with cataract is equally applicable here, with this 
 exception, that as it often proceeds from a disease 
 of the brain, there is a possibility, a probability, 
 of its sooner or later ending fatally, and that 
 more especially if the horse is put to quick har- 
 ness work. 
 
 Specks on the external transparent part of the 
 eye are evident to all. They are generally pro- 
 duced by mechanical injuries, and do not con- 
 stitute unsoundness. There is every chance of 
 them disappearing of themselves, while there is 
 none of their increasing in magnitude. 
 
 The Nostrils. 
 
 Few men have sufficient hardihood to offer a 
 glandered horse for sale, yet there have been 
 cases, where, after hiding all the symptoms, a 
 glandered horse has been thrown into the hands 
 of a simpleton ; so that there can be no harm in 
 looking for the symptoms in every case : but in 
 
62 THE NOSTRILS. 
 
 a crowded market, where all sorts of characters 
 make their appearance, and some rascals too, 
 make a very specious appearance, it is very 
 necessary to guard against every thing, however 
 improbable it may seem. 
 
 In Glanders, there will be a discharge from 
 the nose ; but that will be either hidden by the 
 frequent application of a handkerchief, or, as is 
 oftenest the case, before coming in to the mar- 
 ket, the horse gets a gallop to clear his nostrils, 
 an astringent wash is injected, and then a piece 
 of sponge is forced up, so as to retain the matter. 
 In such cases however, there is almost invariably 
 some abrasion, or eating in, on the red surface, 
 which covers the partition between the nostrils, 
 and this may be seen by bringing the horse's head 
 to the sun, and expanding the nostril, so as to 
 get as high a view as possible. If there be any 
 sore, reject the horse. 
 
 A plug in the nose may be very readily dis- 
 covered, by shutting first one nostril, and then 
 the other, so as to compel the animal to breathe 
 through one at a time, which of course he cannot 
 do, if any thing obstruct one of them while you 
 shut the other. This will also serve to assure 
 you tliat the horse is free from a tumour which 
 
THE NOSTRILS. 53 
 
 sometimes grows in it, and by gradually increas- 
 ing blocks it up. It is termed a Polypus, in 
 Surgery, and constitutes unsoundness : as I need 
 scarcely add, so does Glanders. 
 
 Horses, in travelling to a fair, or from the 
 country to a dealer's stables in town, are very 
 apt to catch cold on the way, and have discharge 
 from the nose and soreness of throat. This the 
 purchaser should guard against, for such cases 
 frequently end very unfavourably ; and indeed 
 if the horse were treated as if he were well, he 
 might probably take inflamed lungs and die. 
 Such things are of frequent occurrence, and cir- 
 cumspection is therefore requisite. A thin 
 watery discharge from the nose, and that small 
 in quantity, is a symptom of this cold ; and upon 
 pressing the throat a little, the animal winces, 
 evidently from pain : many horses, however, are 
 purchased with colds, and no ill consequences 
 ensue ; but if the purchaser chooses to run the 
 risk, he should not by any means use the horse 
 as if he were perfectly well. A few days' rest 
 in a well ventilated stable, mash diet, and some 
 liquid blister to the throat, will, in a great many 
 cases entirely remove a cold ; while exertion, 
 and re-exposure to the causes that first produced 
 
54 CHRONIC COUGH. 
 
 it, will most surely aggravate it, and perhaps 
 induce a much worse disease. A special warranty 
 may be obtained, making the seller responsible 
 for the cold ; but to take that, and use the horse 
 as if he were in health, would manifestly be tak- 
 ing an unfair advantage of the seller's ignorance : 
 to say nothing of the inhumanity of working a 
 sick horse. 
 
 A cough more or less frequent, always accom- 
 panies soreness of the throat, but it is not a dis- 
 ease of itself ; and, therefore, need not be spoken 
 of as one. Some horses have a cough for years, 
 and yet do their work, and maintain their condi- 
 tion, as perfectly, as if they had no such thing. 
 The cough is harsh, dry, and most frequent 
 directly after feeding or drinking, or just when 
 the horse is taken into the open air. It is called 
 chronic cough, and though the horse's health 
 remains unaffected by it, yet it very much annoys 
 him, and is exceedingly unpleasant to those who 
 hear it. It cannot be discovered prior to pui'- 
 chase, nor can the purchaser be assured that it 
 is not a symptom of common cold, until its con- 
 tinuance, unabated by the ordinary remedies, 
 shows its real nature. 
 
 Chronic cough is generally considered an 
 
CRIB-BITING. 55 
 
 unsoundness, on the ground that it makes the 
 horse more susceptible of the evils arising from 
 sudden changes of temperature. I can only say, 
 that I never observed this susceptibility. The 
 purchaser, however, would do well to take a 
 Veterinary Surgeon's opinion on the case before 
 he makes up his mind to keep a horse with chronic 
 cough, for it is frequently a symptom of diseased 
 lungs, &c. 
 
 If the glands between the bones of the lower 
 jaw are swelled, it will most certainly prevent 
 you from buying from a stranger or a reputed 
 rogue : and in all cases, it will induce you to pay 
 much attention to the nostrils ; for this enlarge- 
 ment is one of the symptoms of glanders; but it 
 likewise sometimes exists as a remnant of Stran- 
 gles, and is then not at all prejudicial. 
 
 If the neck at its junction with the head, be 
 out of proportion small, it is probable that that 
 smallness has been produced by the use of a tight 
 strap, to prevent crib-biting: and the teeth should 
 be examined to see if they are much worn away, 
 and chipped on their outer edge, which they 
 always are when the horse is an old crib-biter : 
 and his neck will not show any trace of the 
 crib-biting strap, till he is an old one. 
 
56 CRIii-BlTING. 
 
 Except the sniallness of the neck, and the 
 worn state of the teeth, I know of no symptom 
 by which crib-biting may be discovered, until 
 the animal has an opportunity, and is inclined to 
 show it, as he does by seizing the manger, bend- 
 ing his head in towards his chest, and swallow- 
 ing air, at the same time making a grunting sort 
 of noise. 
 
 The nature of this objectionable point in the 
 horse, has not yet been precisely ascertained ; 
 and hence much dispute has arisen, whether it 
 be a vice or an unsoundness, or whether it be the 
 product of disease, or of an imitative disposi- 
 tion. The following quotation from the Veteri- 
 narian, will show what a difference of opinion 
 exists on this point, even amongst professional 
 men. 
 
 " Paul V. Hardwick. This was an action on the 
 warranty of a horse sold by the defendant, a 
 horse dealer in Tottenham-court road, to the 
 plaintiff, Mr. Paul the banker, in July last. 
 
 " The warranty was contained in the receipt 
 given by the defendant for the price of the horse, 
 and was in these terms: — ' Received of J. B. Paul, 
 Esq., the sum of sixty-five pounds, for a bay 
 gelding, warranted sound, and free from vice.' 
 
ORIB-BITING. 57 
 
 The alleged unsoundness or vice was, tliat the 
 horse was a crib-biter. 
 
 " Sir James Scarlet^ in opening the case for the 
 plaintiff, read an extract from Dr. Rees's Cyclo- 
 paedia, in which crib-biting was described as a 
 vice, and the writer, distinguishing vice from 
 unsoundness, gave it as his opinion, on the effect 
 of a warranty, that if it extended to soundness 
 only, the horse was not returnable for crib-biting, 
 but if it included a warranty against vice, it was ; 
 crib-biting being, it was said, * one of the worst 
 vices.' 
 
 " Philip ffearn, who had had the care of the 
 horse after the plaintiff purchased it, stated, that 
 as soon as it was put into the stables, it began 
 crib-biting pretty sharply, and mauled the har- 
 ness about. 
 
 " Did you put the harness out of its way ? O 
 yes, or it would have been soon all gone. 
 
 <* Did he appear to be an old crib-biter ? Yes, 
 he was a stanch old hand. 
 
 " It was proved that the defendant had had 
 notice to take the horse back ; and that he refus- 
 ed, stating that crib-biting was no * vice.' He ad- 
 mitted that he knew the horse was a crib-biter 
 at the time he sold it to the plaintiff. 
 
68 CRIB-BITING. 
 
 " The plaintiff's attorney said he believed it 
 was the same horse that had been offered to him 
 for £30, about six weeks before. It was a good- 
 shaped horse, and in very fair condition ; but he 
 returned it because it was a crib-biter. 
 
 " Richard Tattersall, proved that the horse was 
 sold at his father's auction, by the plaintiff's 
 direction, on the \2t\\ of July last, at 26 guineas. 
 It was knocked down in the name of Robinson ; 
 but the defendant was present at the sale, and 
 paid the money. The net proceeds were £23 : 
 19: 6d. 
 
 " [It appeared by the subsequent evidence, that 
 the defendant having got the horse again, after- 
 wards sold it to the Rev. Dr. Halcomb.] 
 
 " Mr. Sewell stated, that he was assistant pro- 
 fessor of the Veterinary College. Crib-biting, 
 which was a vicious habit in horses, was consi- 
 dered as an unsoundness. It was treated as a 
 disease. It frequently led to indigestion, and 
 then, of course, there was no saying what might 
 follow. It was curable in its early stages. 
 
 " Mr. Bracy Clark was of opinion, that crib- 
 biting was one of the worst vices of ahorse. It 
 had always been considered as a vice. When it 
 became confirmed, so as to affect the health of 
 
CRIB-BITING. 59 
 
 the animal, it was an unsoundness. A crib-biter, 
 he should say, would be returnable upon a war- 
 ranty against vice, but not upon a warranty 
 confined to unsoundness, unless the health of the 
 horse was aflFected by the habit at the time. 
 
 " The Attorney General addressed the Jury for 
 the defendant, and called the following- wit- 
 nesses : — 
 
 " William Cadman stated, that he was in the 
 employment of Mr. Shackwell, who kept stables 
 in Oxford-street, for the sale of horses on com- 
 mission. The horse in question (he believed it 
 was the same) stood in those stables for sale in 
 June last, and was purchased by the defendant. 
 It was tlien very healthy, and in good condition. 
 It was not a ' stanch old hand' at crib-biting : 
 it bit but very slightly. 
 
 " Cross-examined. — Young horses would fre- 
 quently imitate stanch old crib-biters. 
 
 " Hichard Hardwick, the defendant's brother, 
 stated, that the defendant bought the horse of 
 Mr. Shackwell, in June last, for 40 guineas. It 
 was warranted sound, and quiet to ride or 
 drive. It was fresh, and in good condition ; and 
 continued so, till it was sold to the plaintiff. It 
 was not a ' determined' crib-biter. It was kept 
 
e^ CRIB-BITING. 
 
 in the defendant's stables, for a month before it 
 was sold to the plaintiff, and the manger (a 
 wooden one) was not at all injured by its biting. 
 
 " Cross-examined. It had been since sold to Dr. 
 Halcomb. The price asked was 60 guineas ; 
 but witness did not know what his brother got 
 of Dr. Halcomb for it. 
 
 " Professor Coleman stated, that horses had the 
 habit of crib-biting in very different degrees. 
 He was inclined to think that the true meaning 
 of the word 'vice,' was some vicious quality 
 which was dangerous to the owner of the horse, 
 or to others who rode or drove it, and not merely 
 a defect or fault, because, if that were the case, 
 tripping or shying would be a vice, and few 
 horses were free from some defect or fault. 
 A crib-biter might be a vicious horse, but not 
 necessarily so because he was a crib-biter. 
 
 " Is crib-biting an unsoundness ? 
 
 " That depends on the definition of the word 
 unsoundness. I have always considered wherever 
 there is an alteration of the function in any part, 
 so as to influence the entire functions, and pre- 
 vent the animal from performing the common 
 du ties of a horse, that he is unsound. According 
 to that definition, a crib-biter may or may not 
 
CRIB-BITING. 61 
 
 be unsound. If the habit exists in a slight 
 degree — that is, if the horse only occasionally 
 bites his crib, but supports his condition, and 
 can perform all the duties of a horse, then I should 
 say he was not unsound. 
 
 "On his cross-examination, the witness stated 
 that the habit of crib-biting frequently produced 
 a disordered function, which was the effect of 
 swallowing the air in the attempt to lay hold of 
 some fixed object. That produced indigestion 
 and a disordered stomach, a difficulty of breath- 
 ing, with spasms and inflammation ; and if the 
 disorder got lower down, it produced a disorder 
 of the bowels. The habit of crib-biting might 
 be acquired from imitating other horses ; but 
 that was by no means the most frequent cause. 
 It frequently attached to high-bred horses, and 
 others that were kept long without food. In 
 ninety-nine cases out of a hundred that was the 
 main cause of crib-biting. As the horse in ques- 
 tion had been stated to be in good condition, 
 witness should infer that none of its functions 
 were impaired, and its health was not affected 
 by this habit; and his opinion was, that, in 
 gi;.ieral, crib-biting did not affect the health of 
 tlie animal. 
 
62 CRIB-BITING. 
 
 " Sir J. Scarlett — Don't you know that crib- 
 biters are always draughted from a regiment. 
 
 " Witness. — Not unless they have some other 
 defect besides crib-biting. 
 
 " Re-examined Crib-biting did not arise 
 
 from impaired functions in the animal, though it 
 sometimes produced that effect. 
 
 " Lord Tenterden. — Suppose a crib-biter sold 
 to-day in good condition, in six months hence it 
 is found to have inflammation in the stomach or 
 bowels, with a difficulty of breathing, or any of 
 the other symptoms you have described, should 
 you say it was unsound or not ? 
 
 " Witness. — Unsound when sold, inasmuch as 
 you would be able to trace the effect from the 
 cause. 
 
 " ^Iy. James Turner stated, that crib-biting, in 
 his opinion, was, in the greater number of in- 
 stances, a habit contracted by imitation. Whether 
 it was or was not injurious to the health of the 
 animal, depended upon the degree in which it 
 existed. Witness believed that a horse might 
 be a crib -biter and yet be perfectly sound ; but 
 he believed also, that it was decided unsound- 
 ness in many cas.es. It showed itself more par- 
 ticularly by the animal distending its body with 
 
CRIB-BITING. 63 
 
 wind, but all crib-biters did not distend their 
 bodies with wind in the same degree. It could 
 not be considered as a vice, inasmuch as crib- 
 biters were generally perfectly tractable to ride 
 or drive, and they did no danger to their owners. 
 
 "George Gosden stated, that he had been a 
 veterinary surgeon for sixteen or seventeen 
 years. Had known the habit of crib-biting to 
 exist in various degrees. 
 
 *' The Attorney General. Is it necessarily a vice 
 or an unsoundness ? 
 
 '' Witness. Neither. 
 
 " Have you known horses to have that habit in 
 a considerable degree, and yet to be extremely 
 healthy for a number of years, and be capable 
 of doing their work ? — I have. I have known 
 the best of horses to be crib-biters. 
 
 " Do you know that the horse called ' The 
 Colonel,' had the habit of crib-biting? — I have 
 heard he had it for a number of years. 
 
 " Sir J. Scarlett. Does your experience agree 
 with that of Mr. Coleman, that it very rarely 
 arises from imitation ; or with Mr. Turner, that 
 it generally does ? — That it generally does. 
 
 " As in your opinion, it is neither a vice nor an 
 
64 CRIB-BITING. 
 
 unsoundness, allow me to ask you, whether it is 
 an advantage ? — It certainly is not an advantage. 
 
 " Is it a merit ? — Yes. (Laughter.) 
 
 " The witness explained, by saying he meant 
 to state that 'a slight' crib-biter was neither 
 an unsound nor a vicious animal. 
 
 "What is a 'good stanch' crib-biter? — An 
 old horse that has had it for a long while. 
 (Great laughter.) 
 
 " Is the health of an old stanch crib-biter 
 affected by the habit ? — Not unless the stomach 
 or bowels are affected. 
 
 " Is it a disadvantage to have a crib-biter where 
 the habit exists in a great degree ? — Sometimes 
 it is, sometimes not. 
 
 " You would not then give a guinea less for a 
 horse because it was a crib-biter ?— -Perhaps not, 
 if it had it only slightly. 
 
 " Perhaps you have cured some crib-biters ? — 
 No ; I never have. 
 
 " Have you ever attempted it ? — No. 
 
 <' What remedy would you apply if you were 
 to attempt to effect a cure ? — Tie his head up 
 to the manger. (Laughter.) 
 
 " Would that cure him ? — It would not. 
 
CRlB-BITlNG. 65 
 
 ""^Lord Tenterden. Why should you do it then? 
 -—It would preveut him from biting the manger. 
 (A laugh.) 
 
 " John Lythe, a veterinary surgeon examined 
 by Mr. Hutchinson. Have you known horses to 
 have the habit of crib-biting, and yet their gene- 
 ral health not affected by it ? — Many ; in the 
 army particularly. 
 
 " If they have it not in a degree to affect the 
 health of the animal, are they, in your judgment, 
 unsound, because they are crib-biters? — Cer- 
 tainly not. 
 
 " When they have it only in a slight degree is 
 it a vice ? — Not unless it disposes the horse to 
 some bodily mischief. 
 
 " The witness, on cross-examination, stated that 
 the habit arose frequently from want of food, 
 and frequently from irritation ; and he mention- 
 ed an instance of the latter. 
 
 " Is it a desirable thing for a horse to have ? — 
 It is not desirable, certainly ; but I never cast a 
 horse for it. 
 
 '■'-Lord Tenterden^ after Sir James Scarlett had 
 replied to the defendant's evidence, stated, that 
 the question for the jury was, whether the horse 
 Mas unsound, or laboured under a defect which 
 
66 CRIB-BITING. 
 
 could be properly called a vice. His Lordship 
 was about to sum up the evidence, but the jury 
 interposed, saying their minds were made up. 
 
 " Lord Tenterden. You find for the plaintiff, 
 gentlemen ? 
 
 " A Juror, Yes, my Lord. 
 
 " A verdict was then entered for £41 0*. 6rf., 
 the difference between the price which the plain- 
 tiff had paid for the horse and the net proceeds 
 of the sale." 
 
 From this it appears, that the horse was 
 warranted sound and free from vice : but it is 
 not said, whether the jury regarded it as an un- 
 soundness or a vice. My own opinion is, that 
 crib-biting in every case, constitutes unsoundness; 
 for though it is difficult to say whether the habit 
 is produced by disease, or by imitation, yet it is 
 certain that it cannot exist long, without in some 
 degree impairing the function of the stomach : 
 and dissection shows, that alteration of structure 
 is a consequence of its long continuance, and 
 that, to a greater or less degree, diminishing the 
 efficiency of the animal. It is no argument 
 against this to say, that crib-biters often work 
 well : the question is, would they not work 
 better without such a habit ? It is likewise 
 
CRIll-BITING. 67 
 
 well known, that crib-biters are very liable to 
 attacks of cholic, in consequence of their filling 
 their stomach and bowels with air : and this may, 
 often does, carry the horse off after an hour's ill 
 ness. So that the buyer should think well, 
 before he makes up his mind to keep a crib- 
 biter. He often makes himself quite unfit for great 
 exertion, by distending the stomach in such 
 a manner as to impede his breathing. 
 
 The Teeth 
 
 In front of the lower jaw are examined to 
 ascertain the animal's age. As few horses 
 change hands before they are three years old, 
 I might be content with describing the appear- 
 ances which the teeth present after that period : 
 but as it requires little room, and may possibly 
 be of use in some cases, I shall begin with the 
 colt's mouth soon after his birth. 
 
 The horse, like many other animals, has two 
 sets of teeth ; the first, called the temporary or 
 milk teeth, are in general all above the gums 
 by the time the colt is six or eight months old; 
 and soon after he is two years, these drop out 
 
6B The age. 
 
 in pairs, to make way for the permanent, or 
 horse teeth. They have all made their appear- 
 ance by the time the horse is five years old, and 
 he is then said to he full-mouthed, having twelve 
 grinders, two tushes, and six nippers in each jaw. 
 
 Each of the front teeth, when they first ap- 
 jjear above the gums, has an oval cavity in the 
 centre of the wearing surface, which dips into the 
 tooth like a funnel, becoming narrower towards 
 the bottom ; and as the teeth are worn down by 
 friction, this cavity gradually diminishes in depth 
 and in breadth, till in time it is altogether obli- 
 terated ; and as this takes place at stated periods, 
 it affords a pretty correct criterion of the horse's 
 age. It is improper to say that the cavity or 
 "mark," fills up, for it is actually worn out by 
 the action of the opposite teeth. 
 
 The following refers only to the front of the 
 lower jaw. 
 
 About eight or ten days after birth, the colt 
 has two nippers in the centre of the jaw. 
 
 Some time between the second and fourth 
 month, other two make their appearance, one 
 on each side of the first and central pair. 
 
 And betwixt the sixth and eighth, another pair 
 is added, making six in all. 
 
THE AGE. 69 
 
 After this period, and until the horse teeth 
 appear, the "mark," guides us in determining 
 the animal's age. 
 
 At twelve months, the cavity is all but obli- 
 terated from the two central nippers ; and in 
 those on each side of them, the " mark" is less 
 extended from side to side than it was at first. 
 
 At eighteen months, the " mark" is gone 
 from the four central teeth, and the two that 
 first appeared are nearly triangular on their 
 wearing surface, taking the shape of the root as 
 they are worn down to it. 
 
 At two years, the "mark" is gone fix)m all 
 the six, and the two central teeth appear con- 
 siderably smaller than the side ones. 
 
 At two and a half years, the two central milk 
 teeth become loose, drop out, and the first two 
 permanent nippers appear in their places, and 
 are soon on a level with the remaining four milk 
 teeth. The permanent nippers are larger and 
 darker coloured than the temporary ones, and 
 their external surface has a well-marked furrow, 
 which is not observed in the colt teeth. 
 
 Soon after this period, if the colt has been 
 well fed, and is tolerably well furnished, it be- 
 €3omes an object with the breeder to pass him 
 
70 THE AGE. 
 
 off for a four year old, as some months' keep 
 will thereby be saved. He therefore pulls out 
 a milk tooth on each side of the two central per- 
 manent ones, and then other two horse teeth 
 make their appearance much sooner than they 
 otherwise would, and the colt brings a four year 
 old price, while in fact he is but a few months 
 past three. This deception may sometimes be 
 detected by examining the grinders, but in 
 general the animal's youthful appearance is suffi- 
 cient to show that he is not yet fit for work. 
 
 At three and a half years, other two perma- 
 nent teeth make their appearance, one on each 
 side of the central pair : and before the colt is 
 four years old, they are on a level with the 
 corner milk teeth, which are now yellow on the 
 wearing surface, and very small at the neck, 
 where it joins the gums. 
 
 At four and a half, the corner teeth come up, 
 and by the time the animal is five years old, they 
 are level with the others. Before this time, if a 
 horse, he has likewise four tushes, and the colt 
 is now called a horse, and the filly a mare. A 
 few mares have tushes, but the majority have 
 none. 
 
 At six years old, the "mark" is gone from 
 
THE AGE. 71 
 
 the two central nippers : they being the oldest 
 by a year, are of course soonest worn down. 
 
 At seven, the "mark" is worn out of the four 
 central teeth, and at eight the majority of horses 
 lose all " mark," and afterwards he is very im- 
 properly styled aged. 
 
 Many horsemen, after the " mark" is worn 
 out of the lower jaw, have recourse to the upper 
 one, the " mark" remaining in its teeth much 
 longer than those of the other. But, in general, 
 they offer but uncertain criteria of the age, for 
 their wear is exceedingly irregular, and scarcely 
 four horses can be got together, whose upper 
 teeth present any thing like the same appearance 
 at the same age. I do not therefore place any 
 dependance on them ; neither do I regard the 
 tush as at all indicating the age : for though 
 some rely much on its height, sharpness and the 
 degree of its concavity, yet these are so irre- 
 gular of themselves, and so much altere d by the 
 bit, that it is almost useless to look at them. 
 Indeed, it is rather rare to find two tushes in 
 the same jaw exactly resembling each other. 
 
 Up to eight years, there is little difficulty in 
 determining the age by the nippers of the lower 
 jaw, and, I believe, we must still adhere to them 
 
72 THE AGE. 
 
 when we want to go further. Their shape, 
 though by no means so good a criterion as their 
 mark, is yet characteristic enough of age to en- 
 able us to come within a year or two ; and no 
 horseman need foolishly boast of being able to 
 do more, for the thing is of such a nature as to 
 make it morally impossible to draw an infallible 
 conclusion upon any such grounds. 
 
 At ten years, the central nippers, instead of 
 being nearly oval on the wearing surface, as 
 they were at seven, have become narrower from 
 side to side, and broader from before backwards. 
 
 The fang of the nippers tapers towards the 
 extremity, and is narrower from side to side, and 
 broader from before backwards, than the tooth 
 above the gum is ; and as the nipper wears 
 down, it assumes on its surface the shape of a 
 transverse section of the fang at different places. 
 
 At eleven years, the four central nippers are 
 also altered in their shape, and at twelve, the 
 corner teeth have the same shape which the two 
 central ones have at ten, while they have now 
 more distinctly approached to the triangular 
 form of the fang. I need not proceed further 
 and indeed to say the truth, if the horse be 
 above twelve, it is not of much consequence 
 
THE AGE. 73 
 
 whether he be two or six more, provided he is 
 under twenty, and fresh and able-like in his ap- 
 pearance. If he has been well taken care of 
 while youngs he may be as good a horse at four- 
 teen or sixteen, as, I am sorry to say, most of 
 those now met with, are at ten, in consequence 
 of being too soon, and far two liardly worked. 
 The purchaser need not reject a horse because 
 his mouth is too old to express his age ; if his 
 limbs appear clean and firm, it is a pretty certain 
 sign that he is yet able to do much work, as far 
 as age is concerned : for few, far too few, horses 
 become useless from natural decay. In ninety 
 cases out of a hundred, the animal is driven, if 
 I may say so, to old age, and then almost every 
 part of his frame bears testimony to the fact. 
 
 Besides the teeth, some conclusion may be 
 drawn regarding the animal's age from his gen- 
 eral appearance. When old or worn out, (for 
 here they are nearly synonymous terms,) he is 
 listless to excess, regardless of surrounding ob- 
 jects, heedless of either the whip or the voice of the 
 driver, and apparently, but only apparently, insen- 
 sible to pain. The spine becomes curved down~ 
 wards, while the bones composing it form a ridge 
 
74' THE AGE. 
 
 extending from the mane to the croup: the hairs 
 about the face and forehead become gray, the 
 lips hang apart, the whole countenance has a 
 peculiarly anxious-like expression : and above 
 the eye, a deep pit appears, which along with 
 the eyelids, contribute to form the anxious-like 
 expression so peculiar to a worn out horse. And 
 this leads me to remark another talent which 
 horse-copers have got. In order to hide this 
 cavity over the eye, they prick the skin covering 
 or rather lining it, and blow in a little air, which 
 for a short time fills up the pit, and subtracts 
 not a little from the horse's aged appearance, and 
 thereby deceives the uncautious. This opera- 
 tion is learnedly called "puflfing the glimms." 
 Like bishopping, however, it is beyond comparison 
 far oftener practised about London, than in 
 Scotland. 
 
 I ought to remark that although the teeth are 
 continually wearing, yet as a horse gets old, they 
 appear to grow longer, but they are not really 
 so, it is the shrinking of the bone and gum from 
 them, that produces the apparent elongation. 
 
 I may also here mention a fact, that horses 
 much kept at ffrass, and especially in a sandy 
 
THE AOE. 75 
 
 pasture, lose tlie mark niiicli sooner tlian those 
 in the stable. The reason is, that the front 
 teeth have little or nothing to do in stahle-feed* 
 ing; while the horse is out, they have all the 
 grass to cut, and that often so rough and sandy, 
 as to wear the teeth veiy fast. The purchaser 
 may bear this in mind, and make allowance for 
 it. 
 
 Before quitting the teeth, I must take notice 
 of a rascally trick sometimes played by some of 
 our /iofiest dealers. It is called " Bishopping,*' 
 from Bishop being the name of the ingenious 
 inventor. It consists in making an artificial 
 mark, after the natural one is worn out ; and is 
 done by scooping a piece out of the surface of 
 the tooth with an instrument made for the pur- 
 pose, and then blackening the cavity with a hot 
 iron, or instead, a clumsy job is sometimes made 
 of it by using lunar caustic. Commonly only 
 the comer teeth of an eight years' old mouth are 
 thus operated upon ; and then the horse is 
 *« warranted sound, and only seven years old." 
 Sometimes the next corner teeth are likewise 
 bored and burned, to make a six year old ; and 
 indeed, I have seen all six equally well bishop- 
 ped : when the shape and length of the teeth 
 
76 THE AGE. 
 
 plainly told, that the horse must have been at 
 least twelve years of age. But so wise are the 
 " knowing ones," that as they only look at the 
 mark themselves, they never dream of another 
 comparing that with the shape and length of the 
 tooth, and hence to more acute observers they 
 unwittingly display their roguery in all its 
 nakedness. 
 
 The imposition may be discovered by the 
 irregular roughness on the sides of the cavity of 
 tlie teeth — the unnatural darkness of the mark 
 — the absence of a white ring of enamel that 
 always surrounds the natural cavity : and that, 
 compared with the length of the body, and the 
 shape of the surface, will render imposition ex- 
 ceedingly difficult. The bisliopped horse is 
 likewise loath to allow you to examine his 
 mouth, being fearful of a repetition of the pain 
 which he suflFered while undergoing this dis> 
 graceful operation. 
 
 A bishopped horse is not of necessity an un- 
 sound one ; but he is returnable to the seller, 
 who makes himself liable to an action for having 
 used fradulent means to get a purchaser. See 
 note, p. 41. 
 
THE VEINS OF THE NECK. 77 
 
 The Veins of the Neck. 
 
 One of them is sometimes obliterated in con- 
 sequence of becoming- inflamed after the opera- 
 tion of bleeding. Such a deficiency in structure 
 may bc^ discovered, by placing the finger on the 
 loNvor part of the neck, and compressing the vein 
 sufficiently to stop the passage of the blood. If 
 the vein is entire, it will be seen to fill and swell 
 upwards from the point of pressure. 
 
 The loss of a vein I consider an unsoundness, 
 because, even for many months after it has been 
 shut up, the blood cannot pass so readily from 
 the head ; and if the horse ever needs to be 
 turned out to grass, his head will probably swell 
 from the accumulation of blood, and he will be 
 predisposed to bad eyes and staggers. Tiie 
 purchaser need not, however, reject a horse be- 
 cause he has lost a vein ; for, in course of time, 
 other veins of the neck increase in size, and 
 among them perform the work of the large one 
 that was lost : and then the only objection to it is, 
 that he must not again be bled in the ne<k, lest 
 
78 THE FORELEG AND SHOULDER. 
 
 possibly the other vein also inflame, and become 
 impervious. 
 
 The Foreleg and Shoulder. 
 
 Grooms and blacksmiths make the shoulder 
 the seat of every lameness in the foreleg, when 
 their acuteness is not sufficient to enable them 
 to discover it any where else : but the fact is the 
 shoulder is very rarely diseased, and hence, in 
 an examination for unsoundnesses, it is a part 
 not much looked to. Tumours on the seat of 
 the collar, however, are not unfrequently met 
 with ; and when large, they must either be cut 
 out, or a collar must be used of such a construc- 
 tion as to avoid pressing upon them. Except 
 under such circumstances, a tumour of this kind 
 does not make a horse unsound ; if he is bought 
 entirely for the saddle, then it is only an eye- 
 sore ; but if he is bought to go in harness, 
 and the tumour be of such a size or nature as in 
 the least to unfit him for wearing the collar, 
 then the horse is unsound. 
 
THPJ FORELEG AND SHOULDER. 79 
 
 The Point of the Elbow is sometimes the seat 
 of a large and ugly tumour, produced by the 
 heel of the shoe bruising it, when the horse is 
 lying with the leg bent under him. 
 
 I never saw a case where it interfered with 
 the horse's action ; and unless it does so, it is 
 merely a blemish, not an unsoundness. 
 
 The Front of the Knee is invariably scrutinized 
 with the utmost severity by every purchaser at 
 all acquainted with horses. If the hair be rubbed 
 off, it is a symptom, that the horse has at some 
 time fallen, and injured himself: and it is a po- 
 pular, though erroneous opinion, that if he has 
 once come down, he will be ever after very apt 
 to do so again. This error has had its origin 
 in, and is perpetuated by, the fact, that some 
 horses come down very frequently. But they 
 do so, because they are not well formed for the 
 saddle ; having either a low forehand, or a heavy 
 head, or an upright shoulder, or what is a natural 
 consequence of these faults, they lean so much over 
 their forelegs, as to be very easily thrown on their 
 knees. In a horse that is known to fall often, some, 
 or all of these defects will be found in his conform- 
 ation, but there is nothing in the nature of the 
 injury of the skin, that can at all make him 
 
80 THE FORELEG AND SHOULDER. 
 
 liable to fall. It is true, however, tliat now aim 
 then the injury has been such as to affect the 
 joints, and the bones of the knee, in such a way 
 as partially to stiffen it ; but this, compared with 
 the simple injury of the skin, is of rare occur- 
 rence. It is an easy matter to ascertain whether 
 the knee joint be perfect or not ; the purchaser 
 has only to lift the foot, and bend it backwards, 
 till the heel of the shoe touches the point of the 
 elbow. If it cannot be bent so far, the horse is 
 unsound, unfit for quick work, and liable to fall 
 at any M'ork on a rough road, or in deep ground. 
 But, of course, the degree of this unfitness and 
 liability will depend upon the degree in which 
 the knee is stiffened: but the least degree con- 
 stitutes unsoundness ; and I may observe, that 
 though there is a probability of the evil increas- 
 ing, yet there is none of its decreasing: and 
 knowing this, the purchaser wnll act accord- 
 ingly. 
 
 When the hair is awanting in the front of the 
 knee, the horse is said to have had broken knees, 
 which shows how the evil is estimated. It is a 
 mere blemish, no unsoundness ; unless, as I have 
 already observed, the structure of the joint is 
 affected. 
 
THE FORELEG AND SHOULDER. 81 
 
 Immediately below the knee joint, on the 
 inside, the skin will, in some cases, he found 
 abraded, and the bone enlarged. This is produced 
 by the opposite foot striking it, when the high- 
 actioned horse is trotting fast. It is denominated 
 Speedy cut, and is only objectionable, as indicat- 
 ing bad action, but is no unsoundness. 
 
 Between the knee and the fetlock joint, on 
 the inside, and some way between the knee and 
 the middle of the shank, a little bony tumour is 
 found, called Splent. Few horses, after a year's 
 work, are free from it. At its commencement it 
 is attended with considerable lameness ; yet, 
 after a time, the lameness goes off, and we can 
 perceive no difference between the action or 
 ability of a horse with, and one without splent ; 
 unless, indeed, it become, through neglect or 
 improper treatment, so large as to interfere with 
 the motion of the back tendons. When it does 
 so, the horse is unsound : but not otherwise. 
 
 Strain of the hack tendons is a very common 
 occurrence in the horse, and more especially so 
 in heavy draught horses, and those with long 
 and slanting pasterns. When it has been severe 
 it is a long time before the attending enlarge- 
 ment is entirely removed ; and while any remains, 
 the leg is weak and easily re-injured 
 
82 THE FORELEG AND SHOULDEIl. 
 
 I would here remark, that in every actual or 
 suspected case of enlargement, of any part of the 
 limbs, the examiner may make up his mind with 
 precision as to its existence or non-existence, by 
 comparing the suspected part with the same part 
 in the opposite leg : for it rarely happens that 
 both have the same disease, but when they have, 
 the degree of enlargement differs, which is enough 
 to show, that there is deviation from health. So, 
 the enlargement left by an old strain, may be so 
 slight, as not to be recognised by the eye, yet 
 detected at once, })y carefully and slowly draw- 
 ing the thumb and first two fingers down the 
 whole length of the back tendons of each leg. 
 Some staring of the hair may hint that the leg 
 has been blistered, and may strengthen the 
 opinion you have formed, after comparing the 
 fineness of the two legs by your hand. 
 
 The remnants of a strain in the back tendons 
 make a horse unsound, inasmuch as, though he 
 may, at the time of sale, appear perfectly free 
 from lameness, yet these tendons have so much 
 work to do, tliat they cannot afiFord to lose any 
 of their original strength. 
 
 The Fetlock Joints are frequently the seat of 
 bony and tendinous enlargement : they should, 
 therefore, be well examined by both the eye and 
 
THE FORELEG AND SHOULDER. 83 
 
 the hand. When enlargement does exist, it in 
 almost every case constitutes unsoundness. The 
 inside of the fetlock joint should be examined, 
 to see if the horse is a cutter, that is, one who 
 strikes the fetlock Avith the opposite foot, and 
 cuts the skin. Cutting is a natural defect in the 
 animal's conformation or action, and cannot, 
 however objectionable, be called unsoundness. 
 
 Windgalls are little puffy tumours situated 
 directly above, and almost on, the fetlock joint. 
 They are little bags containing a fluid for lubri- 
 cating and preventing friction, between a tendon 
 and two little bones, which it here passes over : 
 and it is an increase of this fluid, commonly 
 called joint oil, which distends the containing 
 bag, and constitutes windgalls. Few horses 
 are without them, and they do not constitute 
 unsoundness ; but they show that the animal 
 has done a good deal of work. 
 
 The Fetlock is sometimes subjected to an 
 operation, which may, and has before now, aided 
 the roguish seller, and cheated the purchaser. 
 The operation is called unnerving, and is per- 
 formed, not by a dealer, but by a veterinarian, for 
 the purpose of destroying sensation in the foot of 
 an incurably lame horse. It consists in making an 
 
84 THE FORELEG AND SHOULDER. 
 
 incisioa through the skin, either directly above, 
 or below the fetlock joint ; and then dividing, 
 or even entirely removing, a small portion or 
 the nerves that supply the foot with sensibility. 
 After this, the groggy horse appears perfectly 
 sound : but it must be remembered, that the 
 disease is not cured, though the pain and lame- 
 ness are removed. In many cases the disease 
 goes gradually on, till the horse breaks down, 
 throws off the hoof, or, in some other way, 
 becomes quite useless. This is quite a com- 
 mon affair in England : but in Scotland, the 
 operation is rarely practised. Where it is per- 
 formed merely that the horse may be got rid 
 of, the usual result is that which I have just 
 mentioned : but there are other cases, where, 
 when properly performed, it makes a perfect 
 cripple serviceable for many years, and is a useful 
 operation, notwithstanding what has been said 
 against it, by those who neither know how nor 
 when to perform it. But the purchaser, who 
 can neither know why nor how it has been per- 
 formed, should never buy an unnerved horse. 
 
 Sometimes one, and sometimes both legs are 
 operated upon : and as the incisions never heal 
 so well as to leave no trace of their having been 
 
THE FOOT. 85 
 
 made, the scar in the skin should be looked for 
 on each side of the fetlock; it is generally under, 
 though sometimes above, that joint. 
 
 The mere division of the nerve would only 
 make a horse unsound, until its ends unite, as 
 in time they will ; but then, the operation is 
 almost always performed for a disease that 
 always remains and makes the horse unsound 
 for life. 
 
 The Pastern, or space between the fetlock 
 joint and the top of the hoof is the seat of a 
 bony tumour, called Ringbone. It may be dis- 
 covered by its prominence, and, when it exists, 
 it constitutes unsoundness. But many a horse 
 has worked well for many years with a small 
 ringbone. 
 
 The Foot. 
 
 Side bones. Immediately above the hoof, at 
 the heels, and stretching somewhat forward on 
 each side, and having the hollow of the pastern 
 between them, are two elastic bodies, called by 
 veterinary surgeons the lateral cartilages. When 
 in health, they bend inwards and a little out. 
 11 
 
86 THE FOOT. 
 
 wards, to the pressure of the finger and thumb ; 
 but they are liable to a disease, which renders 
 them partially or wholly inelastic, and frequently 
 makes them so prominent as to invite attention. 
 They are converted into bone, and stable-men 
 say the horse has side bones. It is a disease 
 most commonly met with in heavy draught 
 horses, and is one which constitutes unsound- 
 ness, inasmuch as it produces more or less 
 tenderness in all its stages : and if the horse has 
 to be driven about a town, it will, in time, pro- 
 ceed to such an extent as to make him a perfect 
 cripple ; and besides that, it makes the bone of 
 the foot liable to fracture. To a farmer, how- 
 ever, a horse having side bones may be useful 
 for many years, at any work where the ground 
 is soft, and the pace slow. 
 
 Sandcrack is a fracture of the hoof, or a 
 separation of the fibres composing it. The 
 fissure is commonly found in the inside quarter 
 of the hoof, and varies in length from half an 
 inch to the whole depth of the crust. It some- 
 times occurs in the market-place, where the 
 horse is driven violently about on the stones ; 
 and the buyer should therefore look for it, 
 because it may be so small as otherwise to 
 
THE FOOT. 87 
 
 escape notice : and if he has once got the horse 
 home with a sandcrack, there is little or no 
 probability of getting him returned : for, unless 
 something about it shows that it has been treated, 
 no veterinary surgeon can swear that it existed 
 prior to sale. It is an unsoundness, however, 
 if it did. 
 
 Contraction. The foot may be said to be 
 contracted, when it is narrower from side to 
 side, than it is long from the point of the toe to 
 the heel of the frog. Most people regard a 
 contracted foot as being a great detriment to 
 the horse : but it frequently happens that the 
 very people who do so, have a horse whose foot 
 is very narrow, without their being aware of it ; 
 which, along with many other circumstances, 
 shows, that it is not so serious an evil as is 
 commonly imagined. Indeed, there are very iew 
 well-bred horses above the age of seven, thathave 
 not more or less contraction in their hoofs, and 
 yet show no symptoms of being in the least 
 incapacitated by it. A fact we need not wonder 
 at, when it is known, that where the contraction 
 comes on very slowly, the parts within accommo- 
 date themselves to the diminished size of the 
 lioof, and hence we have a small foot, which of 
 
88 THE FOOT. 
 
 itself would scarcely ever be deemed an objec- 
 tion, if it were not known that lameness is so 
 common an attendant upon it. For my own 
 part, I would not reject a horse, merely because 
 its feet were contracted, provided both were 
 equally so, and free from heat and tenderness ; 
 and the horse's action such as to assure me, 
 that no disease existed in the foot besides the 
 contraction : and therefore though I never pass 
 a horse without pointing it out, yet I endeavour, 
 at the same time, to explain its harmlessness. 
 But, where one foot is smaller than the other, 
 it alters the case : 1 am then certain, that there 
 either is, or has been, some long-continued 
 cause of lameness, existing either in the leg or 
 foot : and the discovery of that in many cases, 
 sufficiently warrants me in saying that the horse 
 is unsound, without taking any notice of the 
 smallness of the foot, which may here be only a 
 natural consequence of the animal's setting less 
 weight on it than the other. Contraction alone 
 is therefore not unsoundness. 
 
 Thrush. Every man at all acquainted with 
 horses knows a thrush when he sees it ; and I 
 need not, therefore, give directions for discover- 
 ing It. It is a disease very frequently met 
 
THE FOOT. 89 
 
 With, and one that, in some cases, exists in so 
 trifling a degree, as almost to escape the ohser- 
 vation of a superficial examiner: while, in other 
 cases, its magnitude is such as to give the foot 
 the appearance of being " rotten for good and 
 all." Sometimes it consists in a very trifling 
 discharge of matter from the cleft of the frog : 
 at other times, the frog is small, ragged, soft, 
 and useless. It is the various degrees in which 
 it exists, that have produced the great diversity 
 of opinion that prevails regarding how far it 
 constitutes unsoundness : one party contending 
 that a tlirush, in every case, makes a horse un- 
 sound ; and another, that in some cases it does 
 not. The question has been tried more than 
 once in a court of justice : but the lawyers aver, 
 that the evidence was so contradictory, that no 
 general rule could be laid down. It is a disease, 
 as I have already observed, so common, and so 
 seldom attended by any apparent bad conse- 
 quences, that few people object to it ; and I 
 am inclined to believe, that the horse is often 
 returned to the seller for having a thrush, when 
 the actual objection is something having more 
 alliance to some fault for which he cannot be 
 returned. The purchaser perhaps rues his 
 
90 THE FOOT. 
 
 bargain : the horse is too dear, or is found to 
 have some defect in his action or conformation, 
 and the thrush is made a handle of to get rid of 
 the horse altogether. 
 
 Not long- ago, I was one of those who do 
 not consider every case of thrush an unsound- 
 ness : but I find so much difiiculty in fixing upon 
 the proper degree in which it must exist to do 
 so, that I now consider thrush as one of those 
 diseases, that, strictly speaking, make a horse 
 less useful than he would be without it. If it 
 be neglected, it will increase : the frog will 
 become tender, and the horse shows it, when 
 among small stones, or on a newly metalled 
 road. The foot contracts : and if, at this 
 period, any attempt is made to dry the discharge, 
 the horse becomes lame, unless it is very gradu- 
 ally accomplished : and then too, not an unfre- 
 quent result of long continued thrush is a much 
 more formidable disease, called Canker, which 
 is tedious and difficult to cure ; so that upon the 
 whole, a thrush may not be so trifling a matter 
 as is generally considered. It is an unsound- 
 ness, according to our definition of that word. 
 I am aware, that in its commencement, it is 
 very readily cured, and the seller never fails to 
 
 '*#> 
 
THE FOOT. 
 
 91 
 
 tell the purchaser so : but why does he not cure 
 it himself? Objections aud returns would then 
 be done away with, at least as far as thrush is 
 concerned. 
 
 The purchaser will infer from what I have 
 just said, that I do not by any means advise him 
 to reject a horse with slight thrushes, or even 
 one with them in a somewhat advanced stage, 
 provided the horse pleases him otherwise, and 
 he gets him at such a rate, as to afford the 
 expense necessary in curing what may probably 
 become a more serious evil. 
 
 Corns cannot be discovered without removing 
 the shoe ; so that, when you suspect their exis- 
 tence, you had better accompany the horse to 
 the forge, the first time he goes there to be shod. 
 They are found at the extremity of the sole, 
 between the crust of the hoof and the bars ; and 
 they are known by the horn at that part being 
 discoloured with blood. If the blacksmith can 
 remove this reddish horn with his knife without 
 bleeding the foot, there is nothing to fear : there 
 has been a corn, but there is not now. 
 
 If corns exist in such a degree, as to render 
 more than ordinary care necessary in shoeing, 
 the horse is unsound, but not otherwise : for a 
 
 ■^' 
 
92 THE FOOT. 
 
 eoni may be produced by an ill put on shoe, the 
 removal and properly replacing of which will 
 remove the corn. 
 
 Flat soles are not always the result of disease. 
 When they are so, the crust (or all that part of 
 the hoof exposed to view, when the foot stands 
 on the ground) runs very obliquely from the 
 termination of the skin to the ground ; and 
 transversely, it is marked by alternate ridges 
 and furrows. Such feet are very objectionable 
 in any horse, but particularly so in a heavy one, 
 who has to work in or about a town : for if the 
 feet ev^er again become inflamed, there is every 
 probability of the sole bulging out, and becoming 
 so convex as to render the animal all but useless. 
 Sometimes the foot is naturally flat, and then it 
 does not, as in the other case, constitute un- 
 soundness : the horse having the diseased flat 
 foot may be more particularly distinguished 
 from the other by his gait, which I have to 
 speak of by and by, wndi&v founder. 
 
 The Shoe should be looked at, in order to 
 assist in determining whether or not the horse 
 cuts himself. If a bad cutter, he will either 
 have the inside branch of the shoe considerably 
 thicker than the outer one, or he will have a 
 
THE CHEST AND QUARTERS. 95 
 
 high calkin on it, and the nails will be driven 
 principally in the outside, and round the toe : and 
 the hoof will hang a little over the outer edge of 
 the inside of the shoe. I have already mentioned, 
 that the fetlock should be examined for the same 
 reason that the shoe should : both should be at- 
 tended to. 
 
 The Chest and Quarters. 
 
 Each side of the chest, immediately behind the 
 point of the elbow, should be examined, to dis- 
 cover the marks left by blisters, setons, and 
 rowels. If any are found, it will be pretty 
 certain evidence, that the horse has had inflam- 
 mation in the lungs ; and as it is possible the 
 disease may not have left these organs uninjured, 
 the wind should be well tried oy a smart gallop 
 before purchase. 
 
 The Shin between the Forelegs should be ex- 
 amined for the same marks, and for the same 
 reason that the side should. The hair staring, 
 being thin, and running irregularly in different 
 directions, are signs that a blister has been there 
 
^4 THE CHEST AND QUARTERS. 
 
 recently, while little, bald, and somewliat knotty- 
 spots, are as certain signs of the recent use of 
 setons or rowels. It is impossible to say from 
 these appearances, that the horse is unsound : 
 they only show, that he has had, or been treated 
 for, a disease which often makes him so. 
 
 The Haunch hones should be compared with 
 eacli other, to see that they are equally promin- 
 ent : for sometimes a piece is broken off one by 
 accident. The examiner will see this best, by 
 standing a little way directly behind the horse. 
 If but a small piece has been chipped off, and 
 the horse does not seem to suffer from it, he 
 cannot be said to be unsound : and he is only, 
 therefore, objected to for the deformity, which, 
 by the way, is sometimes so trifling, as to exist 
 without the owner of the horse being at all 
 aware of it. There is a mare Avorking in a 
 stage-coach in the neighbourhood of Glasgow 
 just now, which has had so large a piece broken 
 off the haunch bone, as to form a deficiency in 
 the prominence of the belly on that side ; and 
 vet she does her work as well as her companion. 
 But I should think she would be unable to take 
 any thing like a considerable leap. 
 
THE HOCK. 95 
 
 The Stifle is rarely diseased, but any enlarge- 
 ment ot* so important a joint must be considered 
 as an unsoundness. 
 
 The Groin is now and then the seat of a soft 
 compressible tumour, varying from the size of 
 an egg to that of a man's head. It is formed by 
 the escape of a portion of bowel from the cavity 
 of the belly, and is tlie same with what is de- 
 nominated rupture in the human being. It is 
 oftenest met with in the stallion, and then it 
 occupies the same bag with the testicle. But 
 though rupture, or hernia, as it is called in 
 medical language, is oftener met with in stal- 
 lions than geldings, yet it so rarely occurs in 
 either, that few look for it. It can do no harm 
 however, to take a glance at the groin, and see 
 that all be right. 
 
 Hernia is decidedly an unsoundness. 
 
 I may here observe, that in purchasing a 
 stallion, the testicles ought to be examined: but 
 the assistance of some one acquainted with their 
 healthy structure will here be necessary. 
 
 The Hock. 
 It has been often remarked, that the foot 
 
96 THE HOCK. 
 
 before, and the hock behind are subject to more 
 disease than any other part of the horse. It is 
 an observation founded on experience, and should 
 not be forgotten by the purchaser, when examin- 
 ing those parts. 
 
 Capped Hock is a swelling on the point of the 
 hock, produced generally by the horse kicking 
 in the stable or in harness. It never produces 
 lameness after the inflammation which accom- 
 panies its commencement is subdued, and is 
 therefore not an unsoundness ; but it is an ugly 
 blemish, and one that, in many cases, belongs to 
 a vicious horse. 
 
 There is another kind of swelling on the point 
 of the hock, differing from the former by being 
 attended with lameness, and especially so after 
 a hard day's work; consequently it is an unsound- 
 ness ; but the Veterinary Surgeon is the only 
 person fit to distinguish between this and the 
 mere blemish : though as both hocks are rarely 
 aflfected in this case, and are generally so in the 
 other, the purchaser runs less risk in ge4;ting u 
 horse with two, than only one capped hock. 
 
 Curb is a longitudinal swelling, found at the 
 back of the hind leg, and three or four inches 
 directly below the point of the Iiock. It is best 
 
THE HOCK. 97 
 
 seen, when the examiner stands a yard or two 
 from the side of the horse. A small curb does 
 not make a horse unsound;, neither does a large 
 one, unless the horse become lame from it when 
 put to work, which rarely (perhaps never, but 
 under over-exertion) happens, after the pain 
 and inflammation are removed which attended 
 it at its commencement. 
 
 Thorough Pin is a tumour of the same nature 
 as windfalls, and is of no more consequence. 
 It is situated on each side of the hock joint, 
 about an inch above and behind the centre of 
 motion. 
 
 JSone Spavin is a diseased state of the small 
 joints and bones which enter into the formation 
 of the hock. It is a disease of very frequent 
 occurrence, and, with the exception of curb, 
 almost the only one belonging- to the hock, which 
 produces lameness. To discover its existence is 
 not always an easy matter : on the contrary, the 
 horse may be dead lame from spavin, and yet 
 the most skilful veterinarian is unable to say posi- 
 tively, whether the lameness proceeds from that 
 disease or some other. Many people suppose, 
 that spavin does not exist, till there is a bony 
 I 
 
98 THE HOCK. 
 
 swelling perceptible to the eye : but this is quite 
 erroneous, for as bone grows very slowly, and 
 as, in this case, inflammation and pain are at first 
 necessarily combined with, and must even precede, 
 the formation of the bony tumour, it follows, 
 that we must have lameness, long- before we are 
 informed of the cause by external enlargement. 
 The horse with spavin, however, is, in almost 
 every case, lame from the commencement of the 
 disease, till the hock is enlarged : and then the 
 lameness subsides into stijffness : and then, but 
 not before, the horse is offered for sale : so that 
 the purchaser will not find it a very difficult 
 matter to guard against spavin. It makes its 
 appearance on the inside of the leg, and most 
 commonly at that part where the hock joint 
 terminates and the leg begins. In some cases, 
 both hocks are affected: but, at a rough guess, 
 I would say, both are not equally so in more 
 than one case out of a hundred ; and it is the 
 inequality of the enlargement that will enable 
 the examiner to decide whether the hock be 
 naturally large, or increased in size by disease. 
 Let the eye and the hand be both used in com- 
 paring the hocks with each other ; and look at 
 
THE HOCK. 99 
 
 the toe of the shoe, and the hoof, to see if they 
 are worn away by the horse dragging his foot 
 along the ground. 
 
 Bone spavin, in whatever degree it may exist, 
 is decidedly an unsoundness. A spavined horse 
 may appear to do his work well for a long 
 period ; but, if closely observed, he will be found 
 to be always a little stifF, and that stiifness will 
 never entirely disappear ; though it may be pre- 
 dicted with safety, that it will sooner or later 
 end in downright lameness, unless the horse is 
 kept at work which never requires the full exer- 
 tion of his powers ; for the disease is of such a 
 nature as in most cases to remain stationary, if 
 the cause that first produced it is not re -applied 
 — over-exertion, and over-weight. 
 
 JBog Spavin is a swelling in the front, and 
 rather to the inside of the hock, on the centre of 
 the joint. It is of the same nature as windgalls 
 and thorough pin, and only to be regarded in 
 the same light as these two indications of over- 
 exertion. 
 
 Over the middle of the tumour, constituting 
 bog spavin, a vein runs, which, by the distention 
 of the bag beneath, is always pushed a little out 
 of its place, and then appearing more prominent. 
 
100 LAMENESS. 
 
 the groom thinks it is a disease, and calls it 
 blood spavin. Dissection, however, and measure- 
 ment of the vein, show no trace of disease, 
 neither, when filled with wax in the dead sub- 
 ject, does it appear at all larger, than where 
 neither bog- nor blood spavin had existed. 
 
 Below the hock joint, the leg- should be exam- 
 ined for strains, the fetlock for enlargement, 
 windgalls, and cutting, the pastern for ringbone, 
 the foot for side bones and thrushes. The other 
 diseases mentioned as belonging to the foreleg 
 and foot, are rarely, and some of them never, 
 seen in the hind foot. 
 
 Suppose the purchaser to have proceeded 
 thus far in his examination, he will next have 
 the horse trotted upon the stones, to see that 
 he is not lame, either before or behind. I need 
 not attempt to give directions for discovering 
 lameness, for no man should, unaided, buy a 
 horse, if his knowledge of that animal be too 
 scanty to enable him to discover it himself. I 
 may observe, however, that, as lameness in the 
 forefeet or legs is shown by the motion of the 
 animal's head, care must be taken that the 
 seller do not hide this symptom by holding the 
 horse's head so firmly, as to prevent its up and 
 
LAMENESS. 
 
 101 
 
 down motion. Let the horse have the full length 
 of the rein to himseif, for his head is fixed, when 
 the groom takes what he calls a short hold. 
 The horse's action should at this time be attend- 
 ed to, for if he be tender on both forefeet, it is 
 much less likely to be observed, than if only one 
 were affected. A groggy horse has passed often 
 enough for " warranted sound," when his action 
 would, a priori^ have informed an experienced 
 horseman of his unsound condition. The groggy 
 horse shuffles his feet before him as if the whole 
 leg were stiff; he goes very near the ground, 
 and treads so lightly, that he reminds one of a 
 " cat on a hot girdle." A horse with such action, 
 is called by stablemen a " daisy cutter." 
 
 Lameness, however trifling, or from whatever 
 cause, is an unsoundness : and, I suppose, no one 
 (excepting of course our small, yet gentlemanly 
 dealer,) would buy a lame horse, without know- 
 ing the cause and probable termination of the 
 lameness. 
 
 Founder is a name given to an inflammation of 
 the foot, which frequently leaves bad effects be- 
 hind it, without their immediately showing them- 
 selves in an altered state of the hoof. In many 
 
102 LAMENESS. 
 
 cases, the horse's action shows that all is not 
 right; and in time it is demonstrated by the 
 descent of the sole. When an attack of founder 
 has permanently injured, yet not totally ruined, 
 the foot, it will he discovered by the peculiar 
 way the foot is placed on the ground, when the 
 horse is in motion. Instead of coming down 
 almost flat from the toe to the heel, it will be 
 observed, that the heel comes first in contact 
 with the ground: and if the horse has raised 
 heels on his shoes, this peculiar tread will be 
 rendered more conspicuous. It is best seen 
 when the horse is trotting in a straight line 
 towards the examiner. Besides setting the heel 
 of the foot down before the toe, the foundered 
 horse projects his foot forward in a loose, jerk- 
 ing manner, which, of itself, is a characteristic 
 symptom of this disease. The state of the hoof 
 is another : mentioned at p. 92. 
 
 This disease, for disease it is, though only 
 the remnant of a more violent one, is without 
 doubt an unsoundness : it can never be entirely 
 cured, and will, after the horse has had a hard 
 day's work, so much increase, as to make him 
 actually lame : and if he be, as he generally is. 
 
STRING HALT. 103 
 
 a heavy horse, and has to do quick work about 
 a town, he will sooner or later become next to 
 useless by the sole becoming" convex : and from 
 first to last, he requires particular care in shoe- 
 ing. 
 
 StringJmlt, or Click spavin^ as it is sometimes 
 termed in Scotland, consists in lifting one or 
 both of the hind legs to an unnatural height, and 
 in a convulsive manner. It is supposed to be a 
 disease of the nerves, but its nature and cause 
 are not precisely known ; for dissection throws 
 no light upon either. We might expect, that 
 the awkward way in which the horse uses his 
 legs, would very soon fatigue him ; but it does 
 not appear so, and therefore it is not reckoned 
 an unsoundness. It, however, gives the horse 
 a very ungraceful appearance. 
 
 Disease of the Loins, is indicated by the un- 
 steady motion of the hind legs ; and when the 
 horse is backed, or turned smartly round, he 
 threatens to fall. In every case, it constitutes 
 unsoundness : and the cases of recovery are so 
 few, and the horse is so useless, that he had 
 better be altogether rejected. 
 
104 THE LUNGS. 
 
 The Lungs. 
 
 Anotlier important point in the examination or 
 every horse, is that of the air passages. They a:;^ 
 very subject to disease, and as mueh oi" the 
 horse's utility depends upon his " wind," it 
 should in every case be put to the test. 
 
 Broken wind. The most infallible symptom 
 of this disease, is the peculiar heaving of the 
 Hank. In health it alternately heaves, and falls, 
 and takes as much time to do the latter as the 
 former. But in a broken- winded horse, the 
 flank rises about half-way, pauses there a moment, 
 then goes on, and drops in an instant, as 
 if suddenly, and forcibly thrust down. In this 
 way the flank falls in less than half the time it 
 occupies in rising ; and this is the chief symptom 
 of broken wind. But there is another, when 
 the horse is made to cough, by compressing the 
 head of the windpipe, he utters a short, low, 
 grunting sound, not unlike the cough of an old 
 asthmatic. It is not the clear sonorous cough 
 of a horse in health. Dealers give, or aim as if 
 they were going to give, the horse a blow on tlie 
 bide, whca they want to try his wind ; aud if 
 
THE LUNGS. 105 
 
 this elicits a grunt from the horse, they say he 
 has diseased lungs; and so in general he has; 
 hut not always, neither does he always make 
 this noise when he has. It is therefore a bad 
 test. 
 
 I need hardly say that a broken-winded horse 
 is an unsound one. Every body knows it. The 
 disease does not however render the horse use- 
 less ; on the contrary, we frequently, meet witli 
 a broken-winded horse, following the hounds as 
 well, or almost as well as the best in the field. 
 But to do so he must be well taken care of, and 
 then in spite of all care, he will sometimes be 
 good for nothing. The least change of diet, or 
 weather, seems to have a singular effect upon 
 him. 
 
 I have heard of drugs being given to conceal 
 the symptoms of broken wind, and tliey certain- 
 ly do so to a certain extent, and for a short time ; 
 but I know of no method by which the imposition 
 may be discovered, except his peculiar cough, 
 which cannot be altered by any means. 
 
 Roaring^ whistling, wheezing, piping, puffing^ 
 and thick wind, are names given by stablemen to 
 diflFerent stages, or modifications of one or two 
 diseases of the air passages, which, by partially 
 
108 THE LUNGS. 
 
 obstructing them, produces a noise, varying in 
 character according to the seat, and degree of 
 the disease. 
 
 The obstruction is rarely so great as to produce 
 any noise in the breathing while the animal is 
 at perfect rest. He should therefore be mount- 
 ed, and get a giillop, either up hill, or in deep 
 ground, or sufficiently far on any ground, to in- 
 crease the breathing ; and if the examiner does 
 not ride, himself, he should stand close to the horse 
 as he comes in, that the unnatural noise, if there 
 be any, may be the more readily heard. When 
 the dealer wants to conceal the noise of roaring, 
 &c., he takes the horse out a considerable dis- 
 tance before putting him to the gallop ; and in 
 returning he slackens the pace, so that the 
 breathing may become tranquil before the horse 
 reaches the examiner. This is called the " long 
 trot." 
 
 Roaring of all kinds constitutes unsoundness. 
 
 Immediately after the horse has been gallop- 
 ped, notice should be taken whether the acceler- 
 ation in the breathing be greater than it usually 
 is by the same exertion in a healthy horse: 
 for, if the lungs are diseased, the breathing will 
 be more or less laborious. Some allowance, 
 
THE LUNGS. 107 
 
 however, must be made for tlie condition the 
 horse is in. If he is in the hands of a dealer it 
 is probable that for weeks before he has had no 
 work beyond an hour's daily walking exercise ; 
 and then, he has been fattened like a cow for the 
 bjitcher. So that, between indolence, and 
 abundance of food, the horse has been brought 
 to such a state, as to be much distressed, by 
 what at another time would not in the least 
 incommode him. The dealer has again and 
 again suffered, and suffered most unjustly, for 
 selling a horse in this state ; and I heartily wish 
 some abler hand than mine would take up the 
 cudgels in his behalf. It is his interest to 
 make his goods look as well as they will ; and 
 in order to do so he allows the horse plenty of 
 soft food, and gives him little or no work : then 
 there is accummulation of f?it — a sleek glossy 
 coat ; and the animal appears in high condition, 
 and sufficiently vigorous for any work ; but 
 he is, notwithstanding, a thing of mere show ; 
 he has plenty of fire but no vigour. The pur- 
 chaser, however, is not aware of this ; and, proud 
 of his splendid new horse, he thinks nothing of 
 knocking him about at the rate of twelve 
 
166 THE LUNGS. 
 
 or fourteen miles an hour, or perhaps he at 
 once goes " a-hunting." Now what is too 
 frequently the result of this absurd treatment ? 
 Why, what can be expected, but that the horse 
 should sometimes drop under his thoughtless 
 rider? or what needs he wonder, if on getting 
 home he finds his horse ill — bad with inflamed 
 lungs — and in a day or two, dead ? Then comes 
 the injustice of the thing. The purchaser takes 
 it into his head, or perhaps his groom or black- 
 smith puts it in for him, that the horse must have 
 been unsound when sold. A lawsuit accord- 
 ingly commences — some pretending old fool of 
 a farrier, who could not for his life tell whether 
 a certain part were sound or diseased, swears 
 that he opened the horse and found him " rotten 
 — rotten as a pear, and long unsound." It is not 
 inquired whether or not this witness is com- 
 petent to give evidence in such a case ; but the 
 court, taking that for granted, gives a verdict 
 in favour of the buyer. And thus the seller 
 suffers in pocket and in reputation, because one 
 man did not know how to take care of a horse, 
 and another did not know that a disease may 
 be set up and end in death, in six and thirty 
 
THE LUNGS. 109 
 
 hours. It IS very clear that justice can never 
 be administered while quacks are allowed to 
 give evidence, (at least if their evidence is allowed 
 to have any weight,) on a thing they know no 
 more about than the thing does about them. 
 
 And another thing, the dealer always goes 
 into court like a dog with a bad name. It is 
 supposed that he must have known of the un- 
 soundness, and consequently when the cause is 
 tried before a jury, their minds, in spite of 
 themselves, are biassed in favour of the simple 
 buyer ; and that, coupled with their ignorance 
 of horse affairs, and the perplexity introduced 
 by the contradictory statements of ignorant and 
 incompetent witnesses, make a lawsuit in this 
 particular case, at best a mere lottery : a lottery 
 too where the parties have very unequal chances. 
 These remarks are not out of place. They are 
 intended as advice to the purchaser. Let him 
 recollect that his new horse is not fit for any 
 thing like hard work, until he has been prepared 
 for it by daily and gradually increasing exertion. 
 And where a horse does die shortly after sale, 
 get a Veterinary Surgeon to examine the body ; 
 he is the only competent person to decide 
 
 K 
 
110 THE LUNGS. 
 
 whether the cause of death existed prior to, 
 or was produced after, sale. And if he is doubt- 
 ful, get another, " two heads are better than 
 one :" and in such a case, if an amicable arrange- 
 ment can be made with the seller, it is better 
 than rushing into a court of justice, where no 
 one can tell who is to lose or who to win. 
 Those who want an illustration of this, will find 
 one in this month's (August, 1833) "Veteri- 
 narian," where it is stated that a horse was 
 bought, and soon after died, nobody knew what 
 he died of, and yet the purchaser pursued the 
 seller, and recovered the full price of the horse, 
 with costs. So much for law. 
 
I N D E X. 
 
 PAG B 
 
 Action, peculiarity of the, in horses that have had an 
 
 attack of founder, 101 
 
 Action, peculiarity of the, in groggy horses, . . 101 
 Age of the horse, how ascertained by the teeth, . 67 
 Age of the horse, how ascertained by his general appear- 
 ance, 73 
 
 Back, the, weak when too long, . . . . 10 
 Back tendons, the, should not be tied in under the knee, 18 
 
 Back tendons, disease of the, how discovered, . . 81 
 
 Bishopping, a fraud upon the purchaser, . . 79 
 
 Blindness from palsy of the optic nerve, ... 50 
 
 Blood spavin, what, 99 
 
 Bog spavin, nature of, not an unsoundness, . . 99 
 
 Bone spavin, definition of, 97 
 
 Bones, use of the, 3 
 
 Broken knees do not make the horse liable to fall, . 79 
 
 Broken wind, symptoms of, 104 
 
 Buck eyes, what, 48 
 
 Capped hock, two kinds of 96 
 
 Caswell, V. Coare, case of, • .... 34 
 
 Cartilages of the foot sometimes converted into bono, 85 
 
 Cataract, how discovered, 48 
 
 Chronic cough generally considered an unsoundness, 54 
 
112 
 
 INDEX, 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Crib-biting, trial concerning, . . . ; . 56 
 Croup, drooping of the, characteristic of the Irish horse, 10 
 
 Cold, common, symptoms of, 63 
 
 Conti'action of the foot, not a disease of itself, . . 87 
 Corns, an unsoundness when such as to require more 
 
 than ordinary care in shoeing, .... 91 
 Cough, chronic, generally regarded as an unsoundness, 64 
 
 Cow hocks, what, , 15 
 
 Curtis, V. Hannay, case of, 86 
 
 Cutting, not a disease, arises from defective action, 83, 92 
 
 Delivery, laws relating to, 23 
 
 Earnest money must be given to bind the bargain, . 24 
 Elbow, the point of the, occasionally the seat of a tumour, 79 
 
 Eye, examination of the, 48 
 
 Fieldei", v. Stai'kin, case of, 85 
 
 Fetlock joint, liable to enlargement, ... 82 
 
 Flat soles, not always a consequence of disease, . 92 
 
 Fraud, laws relating to, *>^ 
 
 Foot, examination of the, for diseases, ... 85 
 
 Foot, natural shape of the, 78 
 
 Fore legs, diseases of the, 7!i 
 
 Fore legs, position of the, 1 ^ 
 
 Founder, often leaves the foot in a diseased condition, 101 
 
 Glanders, symptoms of, 61 
 
 Glands between the bones of lower jaw enlarged in 
 
 glanders, 6fi 
 
 Grogginess, symptoms of, . . • •10) 
 
 Hind leg, diseases of, .... 9^ 
 
 Hip down, fracture of the haunch, . . .94 
 
 Hips, ragged, a defect in the form of the loins, 11 
 
INDEX. 113 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Hock, examination of the, for disease, ... 95 
 
 Knees, broken, not an unsoundness, ... 79 
 
 Knees, defects in conformation of the, ... 13 
 
 Knees, sometimes partially stiiFened, • . . 30 
 
 Lameness, in every case constituting unsoundness, . 101 
 
 I^oius, disease of, how discovered, .... 103 
 
 Lungs, how examined, . ; . . . . 104 
 
 Mange, an unsoundness, 20 
 
 Mark of the teeth, use of, in ascertaining the horse's age, 67 
 
 Moon blindness, 48 
 
 Muscles, the, the active organs of motion, . . 2 
 
 Narrow chest, a, disadvantageous, .... 9 
 
 Neck, the, should be light in all saddle horses, . 7 
 
 Nerves, division of the, at fetlock joint, ... 83 
 
 Nostrils, discharge from, 61 
 
 Nostrils, a plug sometimes purposely placed in them, 52 
 
 Nostrils, should be large in all horses, . . , 7 
 
 Nostrils, tumours occasionally found in them, . . 52 
 
 Pasterns, length of, varying in different breeds, . 13 
 
 Puffing the glims, a trick of the dealer, ... 74 
 
 Quarters, the, should be well furnished with muscle, 11 
 
 Ragged hips, a defect in the loins, . . . . 11 
 
 Ringbone, an unsoundness, ..... 85 
 
 Roach backed, what, . . . . . . 10 
 
 Roaring, method of discovering, .... 105 
 
 Rupture, occasionally met with in horses, . . 95 
 
 Saddle back, disadvantages of, . . . . 10 
 
 Sale, laws regarding, 22 
 
 Shillitce, v. Claridge, case of, . . . . . 33 
 
 Shoulder, form of, 12 
 
] 14 INDEX. 
 
 I *...•? 
 
 Shoulder, tumours on, ..••.. 78 
 
 Side bones, what, . . . .... 85 
 
 Soundness, definition of, ...... 17 
 
 Spavin, blood, not a disease, 99 
 
 Spavin, bog, not an unsoundness, .... 99 
 
 Spavin, bone, hovr discovered, 97 
 
 Speedy cut, what 87 
 
 Spine, sunk in saddle-backed horses, ... 10 
 
 Spine, sunk in old horses, 73 
 
 Splint, not an unsoundness, 81 
 
 Strain of back tendons, remains of, an unsoundness, 81 
 Stringhalt, not an unsoundness, . . . .103 
 
 Teeth, the, as indicating the horse's age, ... 67 
 
 Teeth, state of the, in crib-biters, . . . . 65 
 
 Tendons, back, how they should be examined, . . 81 
 
 Thick wind, symptoms of, ..... 105 
 
 Thorough pin, not an unsoundness, .... 97 
 
 Thrush, not to be disregarded, .... 88 
 
 Unsoundness, definition of, 17 
 
 Vice, definition of, 42 
 
 Warranty, doctrine of, 26 
 
 Warranty, express, ..... .27 
 
 Warranty, form of, ....... 41 
 
 Warranty, implied, 27 
 
 Warranty, qualified, 42 
 
 Windgalls, nature cf, ...... 83 
 
 W^ithers, high, important for safety, . . . b 
 THE END. 
 
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 a well-informed and trust-worthy guide ; and such a guide 
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 neatly engi-aved plan of the city, a view of the city, and 
 prospective elevations of its principal buildings." — Dumfries 
 Times. 
 
 " This is an exceedingly useful and respectable little 
 Work. * * Numerous as have been the publications of 
 Mr. M'Phun, this is undoubtedly one of the best of them." 
 Dumfnes Courier. 
 
 " This is a neat and well-executed little volume. From 
 the distinct and graphic manner in which M'Phun's Guide 
 is written, we can confidently recommend it to everyone 
 who desires an acquaintance with the lions and localities of 
 Glasgow." — Edinburgh Evening Post and Scottish Literary 
 Gazette. 
 
 "■ M'Phun's Guide through Glasgow is a beautiful little 
 volume." — Glasgoic Chronicle. 
 
n. 
 
 Price Is. 6d., neatly done up. 
 
 The Pocket Medical Guide ; 
 
 BeiDg a Popular Treatise on Diet and Regimen, Cold and 
 its effects, and the Use and Doses of Medicine ; the whole 
 selected from the latest and best authorities, and carefully 
 adapted for the use of families and non-professional 
 readers. 
 
 CONTEKTS. 
 Part I.—ON DIET AND REGIMEN. 
 
 Introduction — Chap. I. General Anatomy of the Diges- 
 tive Apparatus. 1. Of the Alimentary Canal. 2. Of the 
 Glands subservient to digestion. 3. Of the connexion 
 between the digestive and other functions. — Chap. II. Of 
 Hunger and Thirst.— Chap. III. What is the natural Food 
 of man? — Chap. IV. Of Alimentary Substances. 1. Ali- 
 ments derived from the Vegetable kingdom. 2. Aliments 
 derived from the Animal kingdom. 3. Of Condiments. 
 4. Of Drinks. — Chap. V. Rules for taking food. — Chap. 
 VI. Of Indigestion. 
 
 Part II.— ON EXPOSURE TO COLD AND ITS EFFECTS. 
 
 Chap. I. Of Cold in general. — Chap. II. Of the diseases 
 caused by exposure to cold. 1. 1 he direct consequences of 
 exposure to cold. 2. The indirect consequences of exposure 
 to cold; Fever, Catarrh, Intiuenza, Cough, Asthma, Con- 
 sumption, Inflammation of the Larynx, Croup, Inflamma- 
 tion of the Lungs, Sore Throat, Rheumatism, Diarrhoea, 
 Chilblains, Ophthalmia. — Chap. III. Of the means where- 
 by the bad effects of exposure to cold may be avoided. 
 Part III.-ON THE USE AND DOSES OF MEDICINE. 
 
 Art of proscribing medicines — Laxative medicines, Eme- 
 tics, Anodynes, Astringents, Tonics. 
 
 " A book that no family in town or country ought to be 
 -wiXhont."— -Kilmarnock Journal. 
 
 " This, though a small, is a very useful manual. The 
 editor evinces aptitude in the art of condensation, and the 
 publisher, Mr. M'Phun, a laudable proneness to exemplify- 
 in book-making one of the very best maxims promulgated 
 by the disciples of Bentham — the maximum of utility in the 
 minimum of space."— Dumfries Courier. 
 
III. 
 
 Price Is. 6<i. 
 
 The Shorthand Writer^s Pocket 
 Guide ; 
 
 Conveying a full knowledge of this useful Art, on a new 
 and highly improved System, by which may be written 
 J 50 words per minute. Illustrated by an entire copy of 
 the Scripture Paraphrases used by the Church of Scotland; 
 and the Thirty- Nine Articles of the Church of England. 
 By J. GARDNER, Teacher, Antigua Place, Glasgow. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Price Is. 6d. 
 
 Uniform with the Mother's Pocket Medical Guide, but 
 
 containing a great deal more matter. 
 
 The Pocket G-uide to Bomestic 
 Cookery ; 
 
 Being the most Complete and Concise Sj'stem extant of 
 Practical Domestic Cookery. By a Lady. To which 
 are added, instructions for Trussing and Carving ; with 
 plates. 
 
 ^^ Not a single Recipe will be given in this volume 
 that has not been practised by the Authoress. 
 
 V. 
 Price Is. 6d. 
 
 The Mother's Pocket Medical 
 Guide ; 
 
 Or a Treatise on the Physical Education and Diseases of 
 Children. Compiled for popular use from the writings 
 
 . of Drs. Eberle, Dewees, Burns, Ryan, Kennedy, and 
 others. By a Physician. 
 
VI. 
 
 The FIFTH EDITION, in Foolscap 8vo. Price 68. 
 Boards, of 
 
 The Anatomy of Drunkenness; 
 
 By Robert Macnish, Author of " The Philosophy of 
 Sleep," and Member of the Faculty of Physicians and 
 Surgeons of Glasgow. 
 
 Contents. — Chap.l. Preliminary Observations. 2. Causes 
 of Drunkenness. 3. Phenomena of Drunkenness. 4. 
 Drunkenness modified by Temperament. 5. Drunkenness 
 modified by the inebriating Agent. 6. Enumeration of the 
 less common Intoxicating Agents. 7. Differences in the 
 Action of Opium and Alcohol. 8. Physiology of Drunken- 
 ness. 9. Method of curing the Fit of Drunkenness. 10. 
 Pathology of Drunkenness. 11. Sleep of Drunkards. 12. 
 Spontaneous Combustion of Drunkards. 13. Drunkenness 
 Judicially considered. 14. Method of curing the Habit of 
 Drunkenness. 15. Temperance Societies. 16. Advice t© 
 inveterate Drunkards. 17. Effects of Intoxicating Agents 
 on Nurses and Children. 18. Liquors not always hurtful. 
 
 " This little book is evidently the production of a man of 
 genius. The style is singularly neat, terse, concise, and 
 vigorous, far beyond the reach of any ordinary mind; the 
 strain of sentiment is such as does infinite honour to the 
 Author's heart; and the observation of human life, by 
 which every page is characterized, speaks a bold, active, and 
 philosophical intellect. As a medical treatise it is excellent ; 
 and to those whu stand in need of advice and warning, it is 
 worth a hundred sermons." — Blackwood's Magazine. 
 
 " If every man addicted to this dreadful vice could be 
 induced, in some lucid interval, to read this volume with 
 attention, it would go far to put him out of conceit with the 
 practice. If his own observation and experience had not 
 taught him what a complicated evil drunkenness is, this 
 volume would at least bring to his remembrance many things 
 which it is of the greatest^mportance he should know before 
 he is for ever ruined." — Entertaining Press, 
 
VII. 
 
 SECOND EDITION, 
 
 In One Volume Foolscap 8vo., Price 7s. 
 
 The Philosophy of Sleep ; 
 
 By Robert Macnish, Member of the Faculty of Physicians- 
 and Surgeons of Glasgow. 
 
 Contents. — Chapter 1. Introduction. 2. Sleep in Gene- 
 ral. 3. Dreaming. 4. Prophetic Power of Dreams. 5. 
 Night- Mare. 6. Day- Mare. 7. Sleep- Wallsing. 8. Sleep- 
 Talki«g. 9. Sleeplessness. 10. Drowsiness. 11. Protracted 
 Sleep. 12. Sleep from Cold. 13. Trance. 14. Waking 
 Dreams. 16. Spectral Illusions. 16. Reverie. 17. Ab- 
 straction. 18. Sleep of Plants. 19. General Management 
 of Sleep. 
 
 ** The Second Edition has been enriched with many im- 
 portant additions ; in particular a long chapter on Spectral 
 Illusions — one of the most interesting portions of the work. 
 We have seldom met with a work more worthy of a place in 
 every well-furnished library. It will interest equally the 
 reader for amusement and the philosophical thinker."— 
 Edinburgh Phrenological Journal. 
 
 " This is one of the* most interesting and delightful 
 Tolumes we have for a long time met with. It is full of 
 amusement and instruction. Over its details is thrown that 
 luminousness which alone flows from original genius."— 
 Edinburgh Evening Post. 
 
 " We have been captivated by the eloquence — we haa 
 almost said the poetry of its descriptions ; and, on the whole, 
 we must say that we consider it to be one of the most valua- 
 ble and amusing books of philosophy we have met with for 
 this long time past." — London Medical Gazette. 
 
 " A work which will be perused with interest and delight. 
 It may be considered the most valuable contribution which 
 philosophy, poetry, and physical science in agreeable com- 
 bination, have lately made to the illustration of the study of 
 man's nature, viewed in close alliance with his * being's end 
 and aim.' " — Edinburgh Weekly Journal, 
 
6 
 
 VIII. 
 Just Published in Foolscap 8vo., Price 5s. 
 
 The Book of Aphorisms. 
 
 BY A MODERN PYTHAGOREAN. 
 
 " We should have noticed this spirited and delightful 
 volume long ere now — and would have made a point of 
 doing so, had its tendency and nature been in the least 
 degree ephemeral ; but to the reader of the Anatomy of 
 Drunkenness and the Philosophy of Sleep, it will require 
 no rhetorical effort of ours to show that no serious and 
 deliberate publication of Dr. Macnish's can be so. These 
 two acknowledged works have been before the world for 
 years — th-ey rose instantly into popularity, and continue 
 popular ; and we have no doubt that this last brochure, ' to 
 make a third will join the former two,' in the good graces 
 of the reading public. These Aphorisms exhibit keen 
 observations of life, manners, and authorship — are gilded 
 with the play of a delightful fancy ; and without the cynical 
 moroseness of Rochefoucault, the pert paradox of Hazlitt, 
 or the sententious indelicacy of Sterne ; convey wholesome 
 advices, and pleasant remarks, in a way that cannot fail to 
 amuse while they instruct. Some are on light subjects, and 
 some on weighty ; and number three never predicts what 
 number four is to tell us ; but the variety is of itself charm- 
 ing, and we sit down as it were to a breakfast a la fuurchette^ 
 where one helps himself to tea, and another to coffee, a third 
 commencing with a sliced tongue, and a fourth with devilled 
 turkey, while a fifth prefers broiled salmon steak, and 
 wonders at a sixth, his neighbour who is gobbling up Ger- 
 man sausage, 
 
 " To review such a book as the present, which, so far a9 
 matter goes, has neither beginning, middle, nor end, and 
 which, like the Hebrew, we may, if we choose, begin t« 
 read backward, were a preposterous undertaking. The 
 only way is to give a dozen consecutive Aphorisms, by way 
 of extract, opening the book at random. 
 
 " He who could write these six hundred and seventy-live 
 Aphorisms, could readily add a thousand more to them. 
 Let him do so, and that speedily, in the shape of a second 
 series. When both are bound together, they will make a 
 delightful travelling companion. 
 
 " The getting up is exquisite in every respect. Well done, 
 Glasgow !" — Edinburgh Evening Post. 
 
IX. 
 
 Now Ready, Vols. I. II. and III., 8s. each. 
 
 The Scottish Pulpit, 
 
 Containing a Body of Original matter, nowhere to be met 
 with in quality so superior, and at a price so very reason- 
 able. The Sermons are by the most eminent living 
 Divines of the Church of Scotland ; and, for the most 
 part, have either been furnished by the authors themselves, 
 or corrected by them before appearing in print. 
 
 Scottish Pulpit, Vol; III. — " We hail the appearance of 
 this volume with much pleasure. The extensive sale which 
 the work enjoys, and deservedly enjoys, is a favourable 
 symptom, or rather a gratifying proof, that feelings of 
 christian piety still exist to an encouraging extent in our 
 land. It would very greatly benefit society were such writ- 
 ings to become much more prevalent, and take the place of 
 those, which under the name of politics or political economy, 
 and under the pretence of teaching the art of Government, 
 are souring men's minds, and rendering them turbulent, 
 discontented, and unhappy. It signifies very little for a 
 man to have his head stuffed with crude undigested know- 
 ledge, which he probably will never have an opportunity to 
 apply ; but not so with the knowledge here communicated, 
 because it is such as deeply interests every man, not only in 
 his passage through this transitory scene of life, but in 
 future and endless ages. The present volume contains 
 upwards of 70 sermons, some of them by the most eminent 
 ministers of which Scottish Ecclesiastical Literature can 
 boast, while others are. from pens, whose owners, though 
 not yet perhaps much known to fame, are in the fair way of 
 obtaining it, if the sermons, under notice, be fair criteria 
 of their merits. The volume, in addition to its other pro- 
 perties, is very handsomely printed. It is, moreover, em- 
 bellished with a portrait of the late Rev. John Geddes, of 
 whom a memoir is given. We recommend the volume, not 
 as one worthy of a single perusal, and then to be laid aside 
 and forgotten, but as one that may be perused and re- per- 
 used with increasing pleasure and increasing profit."— 
 Paisley Advertiser. 
 
 " I'he third volume of this excellent body of practical 
 theology is completed ; and its merits, we think, are even 
 greater than those of the volumes by which it was preceded. 
 There is a marked improvement in the style of the sermons, 
 
8 
 
 bod to account for the superiority is not difficult. The 
 utility. of the work is now established, and clergymen, appre- 
 ciating its merits, and knowing its extensive circulation, 
 select with care .the sermons they wish to appear in its pages. 
 The Scottish Pulpit is a publication in which Christians of 
 every denomination are interested. With party it has 
 nothing to' do. The diffusion of Christianity is its object, 
 in a mode cheap, convenient, and elegant. In this age of 
 cheap publications the idea of furnishing two sermons foi 
 twopence seemed to be merely the speculation of an ardent 
 mind. The attempt, however, pleased the religious public 
 —the variety of the work continued to excite attention — its 
 substantial matter ensured approbation, till, from ranking 
 as a weekly production, it has assumed the loftier station of 
 a standard publication of practical divinitj\ Nor is thia 
 strange. The sermons generally are, what such productions 
 should be, calculated to improve the understanding and aifect 
 the heart, and from the peculiar circumstances under which 
 they are furnished, they have an uhction which iew printed 
 sermons possess. This publication, therefore, has just claims 
 for general diffusion. Is the Christian fond to possess a 
 sermon of his beloved minister? In the stillness of the 
 Sabbath evening does he wish a work suitable for that day, 
 and in unison with his feelings? Does the father, in the 
 domestic circle on that evening, require a publication to 
 instruct the minds of his household, and improve their 
 hearts ? Is the Christian, in the seclusion of a sick cham- 
 ber, desirous of spiritual comfort ? — to ail these classes, how 
 diversified soever their circumstances, the Scottish Pulpit is 
 peculiarly adapted. The religious sailor, will find this work 
 most suitable for a spare hour on Sunday. It will remind 
 him of home, of his duty to himself, to his neighbour, and to 
 his God. The pious shipmaster, who assembles his crew 
 for religious purposes on Sabbath, would consult his own 
 interest, and the spiritual welfare of those for whom be is 
 deeply responsible, by adding to his religious exercises a 
 selection from the pages of this work. We heartily recom- 
 mend this publication to the patronage of the religious pub- 
 lic; known, its merits will be acknowledged; and we are 
 proud to hijye this work associated with the literature of 
 Scotland. It is worthy of her press and of her pastors ; and 
 the publishers merit the warmest thanks for the manner ,in 
 which the Scottish Pulpit has been conducted, and we sin- 
 cerely trust their past and continued exertions will be fairly 
 appreciated."— Greenock Advertiser. 
 
NEW Edition, Corrected, First Series complete, Five 
 Volumes 8vo. Price £2. 
 
 The Glasgow IVEechanics' Maga- 
 zine« 
 
 Great pains have been bestowed upon the present Edition 
 of this work in its progress through the press. Articles 
 of temporary interest have been excluded, and in their 
 place has been substituted such matter as will always 
 prove useful to the man of science, thus rendering the 
 work one of permanent utility on every subject connected 
 with Science and the Arts. 
 
 ♦• However much we have been led from time to time to 
 speak in admiration of the work of a similar kind to this 
 liovv Publishing in London, we cannot help expressing our 
 opinion as still higher of the Glasgow Mechanics' Magazine. 
 It appears to be conducted by a set of practical men, who 
 understand well what they are about, and who are well 
 calculated to execute the task they have undertaken. The 
 plates are all engraved on copper, and in a manner not 
 inferior to the most expensive Scientific Journals now 
 publishing. All the London cheap Periodicals have only- 
 got wood engravings, which do not and cannot show the 
 minute lines of Machinery half so well as a copperplate 
 •ngraving." — Leeds Mercury. 
 
 XL 
 
 TWENTY-SEVENTH EDITION. 
 
 The Scottish Martyrs. 
 
 In Two Large Volumes 8vo., 
 
 Biographia Scoticana: 
 
 Or a Brief Historical Account of the Most Eminent 
 SCOTS WORTHIES, Noblemen, Gentlemen, Min- 
 isters, and othei's, who Testified or Suffered for the 
 
10 
 
 Cause of the Reformation in Scotland, from the begin- 
 ning of the Sixteenth Century to the Year 1688 ; orig- 
 inally collected by John Howie of Lochgoin ; now Re- 
 vised, Corrected and Enlarged, by a Clergyman of the 
 Church of Scotland, and Enriched with a Preface and 
 Notes, by Wm. M' Gavin, Esq., Author of " The Pro- 
 testant," &c. 
 Volume I. contains Memoirs of the Lives of the Worthies. 
 Volume II. contains the " Last Words and Dying Tes- 
 timonies," " Cloud of Witnesses," " Naphtali," &c. &c. 
 — To those who are already in possession of the first 
 volume of this work, the second will be found an indis- 
 pensable requisite, as without it the book is incomplete, 
 and is deficient in by far the most important and inter- 
 esting portion of the Biography of the Scottish Reform- 
 ers. 
 
 " This is by far the best edition of this most remarkable 
 W'ork that has ever seen the light. He is not worthy the 
 name of a Scot, who can be indifferent to the story of these 
 immortal champions." — Evangelical Magazine. 
 
 " We hail with pleasure this new and greatly improved 
 Edition. The external appearance is very creditable to the 
 Publisher, and we have no doubt his well-meant zeal in 
 publishing an improved edition of a work that must ever be 
 dear to pious minds, will meet with the encouragement 
 which it unquestionably deserves." — JEdinburgh Christian 
 Instructor, 
 
 XIL 
 
 SECOND EDITION OF THE NEW GAELIC DICTIONARY. 
 
 Now ready, in one handsome Octavo Volume, dedicated to 
 his Grace the Duke of Gordon, Price 21s. 
 
 IL Dictionary of the Gaelic Zian- 
 guage, 
 
 Containing many more Words than the Quarto Diction- 
 aries; with their significations and various meanings in 
 English; illustrated occasionally by suitable Examples 
 and Phrases, and Etymological Remarks. The first 
 Part contains Gaelic- English, the Second English- Gaelic, 
 which are given much fuller than in any of the Quarto 
 
11 
 
 Dictionaries. By the Rev. Dr. M'Leod, Campsie, 
 
 the Rev. Principal Dewar, Aberdeen. 
 
 " The Rev. Drs. M'Leod and Dewar are already advan- 
 tageously known to the public as eminent Gaelic Scholars, 
 and we think their Dictionary promises fair to extend 
 their reputation as benefactors to the Highlands. * * * 
 The present publication will have all the advantages of an 
 abridgment from the Society's large work, with some 
 peculiar to itself, as being to a considerable extent original. 
 Many new words are added, and new phrases are given, 
 especially with regard to the changes eifected upon the 
 word by prepositions^ prefixes, and affixes, which are very 
 common in Gaelic. To the Highland Student and the 
 Highland Minister it is unnecessary to recommend it, since 
 we know that by them such a work has been long wished 
 for ; and a slight glance at the present will be sufficient to 
 convince them of its value." — Edinburgh Literary Journal, 
 Dec. 1829. 
 
 " We have now the complete work before us, and we are 
 much pleased to find that, instead of cause to retract, w«5 
 have rather to add to the praise we formerly felt it our duty 
 to bestow on the labours of Drs. M'Leod and Dewar."— 
 Ibid. Jan. 1831. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 The Craelic Messenger. 
 
 Conducted by tne Rev. Dr. IM'Leod of Campsie, assisted 
 by a numerous circle of Celtic Scholars. Complete in 
 2 Vols, in Boards, price 6s. 6d. each, or with the Sermons 
 8s. each Vol. 
 
 " This is truly a literary curiosity. A periodical in the 
 language of Ossian. We congratulate our Highland 
 countrymen in particular, and the friends of knowledge and 
 civilization in general, upon the appearance of this excellent 
 Miscellany." — Edinburgh Library Gazette. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 The Notation of Music Fimplified 5 
 
 Being the Development of a System, in Avhich the Charac- 
 ters employed in the Notation of Language are applied to 
 the Notation of Music. By Alexander Macdonald. 
 
12 
 
 XV. 
 
 Seventh Edition, neatly done up in pocket size, Price Is. 
 
 A Catechism of Phrenology, 
 
 Illustrative of the Principles of that Science. By a Mem- 
 ber of the Phrenological Society of Edinburgh. 
 
 1^^ This Work contains all that is requisite for the infor- 
 mation of the General Reader on Phrenology. AU the 
 leading Facts and Principles of the Science are fully 
 detailed, and the whole is illustrated with Engravings. 
 
 " The utility of this manual is unquestionable, for what- 
 ever progress the science it is intended to illustrate may be 
 making, it is evident that its study should not be entirely 
 omitted even in the most general education. The arrange- 
 ment of the work is admirable. The utmost perspicuity 
 prevails in every page. The public may be assured of its 
 high claims to tiieir attention, from the facility with which 
 the principles of the science are unfolded before them ; from 
 the philosophic tone in which the subject is treated, and 
 from the unassuming, modest manner in which its appeals 
 are made." — Alexander's East India Magazine. 
 
 " This is a brief Manual of Phrenology, in the form of a 
 Catechism, intended for the use of individuals who cannot 
 bestow much time or money on the study of it. It com- 
 bines accuracy, cleai'ness and brevity, and is scrupulously 
 correct in doctrine. 
 
 " After describing the different organs, the work contains 
 'general questions,' in which the effects of education, tem- 
 perament, size, combinations, &c., are discussed. It con- 
 tains a neatly engraved copy of the Edinburgh Phrenologi- 
 cal bust ; and, on the whole, is a commendable and useful 
 publication. It is neatly printed, and sold very cheap." — Edin- 
 burgh Phrenological Journal 
 
 XVI. 
 
 A Brief History of the Protestant 
 Reformation. 
 
 New Edition, with Corrections and Additions, in One Vol, 
 
 Price 4s. Boards. 
 In a Series of Letters addressed to WILLIAM COB- 
 BETT, in consequence of the Misi-epresentations and 
 
13 
 
 Aspersions contained in his " History of the Protestant 
 Refoi'mation in Britain and Ireland." By Wm. M'Gaviw, 
 Esq. Author of " The Protestant." 
 
 *' Those who wish to see Mr. Cobbett more than matched, 
 should possess themselves of this valuable publication. It 
 is not saying too much of Mr. M' Gavin to assert that he is 
 one of the most enlightened Protestants in Christendom. 
 The whole controversy stands before his mind in the order 
 of perfect arrangement, and Mr. Cobbett appears like a 
 child in the hands of a giant. Posterity will gratefully 
 acknovi ledge its obligations to this incomparable advocate." 
 — Evangelical Magazine. 
 
 XVII. 
 Neat pocket size, Price Is. 6d. in Boards. 
 
 Treatise on Baptism. 
 
 A Practical Treatise on the Spiritual Import of Baptism, 
 and the duties connected with the Observance of the Or- 
 dinance. By the Rev. John Thomson, Minister of Shet- 
 tleston. 
 
 " This is a work which will, and ought, to make its way, 
 where many more ponderous and learned treatises on the 
 subject will be refused admittance. The truths regarding 
 the nature and practical bearing of the ordinance of baptism 
 are correctly and clearly stated ; and the duties binding both 
 upon parents and children, in connexion with the solemn 
 ordinance, are enforced in some instances with a natural 
 eloquence which cannot fail to reach the heart, because every 
 reader will feel that the sentiments come from the heart. It 
 is of importance that Christian parents should be reminded 
 of the duties which it is incumbent on them to discharge 
 towards their baptized children, especially in this age, when 
 too many obviously regard the ordinance by which they are 
 admitted into the visible church in no other light than a 
 customary form with which it is disrespectful not to com- 
 ply ; and it is of importance, also, that such should be pro- 
 vided with a woi'k so moderate in compass as this, to serve 
 both as a manual for direction, and a stimulus to urge them 
 on to duty. The author has not served the cause of Chris- 
 tianity by throwing any new light upon the subject ; but 
 we are mistaken if he has not rendered a very important 
 service to the cause of practical godliness, by bringing v.ith- 
 
 t / 
 
u 
 
 Id the reach of all, a clear and forcible exhibition of vital 
 truth, and if parents are not led by it, in many instances, to 
 the fiiltilment of their solemn engagements, and induced to 
 a more rigid adherence to their vows. We heartily join in 
 the author's prayer, and trust he will enjoy tlie ' unspeaka- 
 ble satisfaction' of making many ' a salutary and saving im- 
 pression,' by the little volume now before us." — Presbyterian 
 Jieview, 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 Church Establishments Defended, 
 
 Being a Review of the Speeches delivered in Dr. Beattie's 
 Chapel, by the leading men of the Voluntary Church 
 Association. Bi/ a Churchman. 
 
 " The Churchman's" Second Defence of Church Establish- 
 ments, being a Second Review of the Speeches in which 
 the argument against Establishments, drawn from the 
 state of religion in the United States of America, is fully 
 considered, and ample information of the subject adduced. 
 
 The Christian Instructor in reviewing the various works 
 on this subject, of the second of these, says — " This is a 
 powerful pamphlet. To those who wish to have only one 
 pamphlet upon the subject, this is the one that we recom- 
 mend." This is no mean praise, considering that the pens of 
 the ablest and most eloquent writers of the present day have 
 been employed on the subject. 
 
 " For a more particular refutation," says Dr. Patrick 
 M'Farlane, in a note to his speech, "of the argument of 
 the Voluntaries from America, let the reader peruse that 
 unanswerable \>KmY>\i\et entitled 'a Second Defence.'" 
 
 " See ample details on this subject in the ' the Church- 
 man's'' able and triumphant ' Second Defence.' " — Presbyterian 
 Magazine. 
 
 1^" These two pamphlets may now be had neatly bound 
 in Cloth. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 A Careful and Strict Inquiry 
 
 Into the Pretensions and Designs of Dr. Heugh ; or, his 
 " Considerations on. Civil Establishments of Christianity" 
 plainly discovered to be full of specimens of ignorance, 
 most absui'd and contradictory arguments, and altogether 
 to have been published very inconsiderately. — With some 
 
15 
 
 XX. 
 
 The Church of Scotland IVCagazlne. 
 
 Contents. — 1. To Readers and Correspondents : — Union 
 of Orthodox Seceders with the Church of Scotland — Pro- 
 testantism — Atheism — The Union of Infidels with Volun- 
 taries — To the Editor of the Record — Missionary Biography 
 — Psalmody— Revenues of the Church of England. — 2. 
 Scripture Evidence in Favour of Establishments. By J. E. 
 Gordon, Esq., late M.P. for Dundalk— No. 2. The Patri- 
 archal Dispensation. — 3. Extension of the Church — St. 
 Andrew's Church, Ramsbottom, Lancashire. — 4. Extracts 
 from Distinguished Writers. — 5. Church Property not 
 Originally the Exclusive Property of Roman Catholics.— 
 6. Dissenting Endowments. — 7. Voluntary Church Princi- 
 ples both of a Revolutionary and Infidel Nature. — 8. Present 
 Condition of the Established Church. — 9. Notices of Books : 
 — The Expediency of a Secure Provision for the Ministers 
 of the Gospel — Speeches delivered at a Meeting held at 
 Arbroath — Wisdom of the Secession Magazine-^Memoir of 
 the Rev. Elias Cornelius — 10. The Church of Scotland, the 
 Friend of Freedom.— II. Voluntary Denouncement an«i 
 Reverence for Scripture. 
 
 ** We are pleased with the whole series of this new peri- 
 odical, so admirably adapted to the times in which we live, 
 and long wanted by the Church in Scotland. It js con- 
 ducted with great talent ; and in addition to its other merits, 
 has unanswerable claims upon public patronage from its 
 cheapness. It is sold at Sixpence ! No clergyman of the 
 Church of Scotland, therefore, and no lay member of that 
 Church who has any regard for the venerable Establishment, 
 has any excuse if this periodical do not appear on the break- 
 fast table as regularly as the months come."— Xtuerpoo/ 
 Standard. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 America at One View. 
 
 On a very Large Sheet, beautifully printed at the Glasgow 
 University Press, Price Is. 6d., or varui&hed on canvass 
 and roller, Price 6s. Gd. 
 
 Bell's S*tatistical Sheet Atlas of the United 
 States of North America. 
 
16 
 
 XXII. 
 
 NEW Edition, with a beautiful Engraving of the King 
 
 William Steam Carriage, in Octavo, ^ce Is. 
 
 A DESCRIPTIVE AND HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF 
 
 The Ziiverpool and Manchester 
 Hallway, 
 
 From its First Projection to the Present Time : Contain- 
 ing all the Facts and Information that have yet appeared 
 on the subject ; with numerous Interesting and Curious 
 Original Details, Estimates of Expenses, &c., &c. By 
 Joseph Kirwan, Civil Engineer. 
 
 *• Those who are at this time embarking their capital iu 
 the erection of Railways throughout the country, would 
 do well to peruse with care a small work recently published 
 by Joseph Kirwan, civil engineer. It contains, in a narra- 
 tion of the rise, progress and completion of the Liverpool 
 and Manchester Railway, a host of information on the 
 subject; and, what must be of infinite importance to those 
 engaged in similar enterprises, it is all of a practicai, 
 nature. The details are ample, the facts numerous, and 
 the calculations are made with the utmost accuracy and 
 precision. " — Edinburgh Advertiser. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 In Two neat Pocket Volumes, Price 9s. 
 
 The Spirit of British Song. 
 
 With illustrative and Biographical Notes, by the late 
 
 JOHK GOLDIE. 
 
 " Among the innumerable collections of Songs which are 
 continually issuing from the press, we have not met with 
 one deserving more universal patronage, than the one now 
 before us. Judging from the first four Numbers, which 
 have been handed to us, we can safely say it is the best we 
 have yet seen. It is really what it professes to be — 'The 
 SPIRIT OF BRITISH SONG ;' and gives only what it promises 
 — the Popular Melodies of the day. A publication of this 
 kind, we conceive was much wanted. No selection was 
 obtainable at a reasonable price, divested of all the obsolete 
 rubbish misnamed songs, which are here judiciously dis- 
 carded, and at the same time free from what most Song 
 Books are crampied with, viz., oi'igins^l trash."— 2%e TeU" 
 tcope. 
 
17 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 In one Volume 12mo. with an Engraving of the Anns ot 
 
 the Incorporation of Bakers, Price 5s. 
 
 The Practical Baker and Confec- 
 tioner's Assistant, 
 
 Being a Comprehensive View of every thing relative to the 
 Baking of Loaf and Fancy Bread, on both the Ancient 
 and Modern Systems ; with a great variety of Practical 
 Receipts in Pastry, Confectionary, Candies and Pre- 
 serves, Cordials, Wines, &c. ; and the various methods 
 . of making Artificial Yeast. By John Turcan, baker. 
 
 " Moreover, this book is a perfect repository of every 
 thing relating to the subject, which he has undertaken to 
 discuss. The whole mystery of baking and confectionary 
 is fully laid open ; and by the simple and judicious direc- 
 tions laid down, any one may practise for himself the 
 operations of these universally interesting arts. We doubt 
 not that the work will be found highly useful to the trade ; 
 and we dismiss it with every wish for that success which it 
 BO T 'ell deserves." — Edinburgh Evening Post. 
 XXV. 
 In Monthly Numbers, Price 2d. 
 
 The Child's Magazine; 
 
 Or, Tales for the Nursery. 
 iJy Mrs. M'Gregor, Author of "Maternal Duty," Ssc, &c. 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 Neatly Printed in Pocket size, Pi'ice 6d. 
 
 The Casquet; 
 
 A Collection of the best Songs in theGAELIC LAN- 
 GUAGE. Selected by James Munroe. 
 
 " It contains as much closely and neatly printed matter 
 in Gaelic, for Sixpence, as we have ever seen offered for the 
 same money in English." — Scots Times. 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 IVE'Fhun's Edition of the Scotch 
 Kef or m Act. 
 
 Price Threepence. 
 This is the most accurate and most comprehensive of all 
 the Abridgments of the Act yet published. 
 
18 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 THIRD EDITION, Price 29. 6d. 
 
 ^ith the Scotch Law regarding the Sale and Warranty of 
 Horses. 
 
 Advice to Purchasers of Horses ; 
 
 Being a Short and Familiar Treatise on the Exterior Con- 
 formation of the Horse, the Nature of Soundness and 
 Unsoundness, the Laws relating to Sale and Warranty, 
 with C(jpious Directions for Discovering Unsoundness 
 prior to purchase. 
 
 By J. Stewart, Veterinary Surgeon, and Professor of Ve- 
 terinary Surgery in the Andersonian University. 
 
 " The buyer hath need of a hundred eyes. 
 But the seller of only one." 
 
 ** Persons who have occasion to buy or sell horses would 
 derive much instruction from this little manual, which 
 treats of the exterior conformation of the horse, the nature 
 of soundness and unsoundness, and the laws relating to sale 
 and warranty, with copious directions for discovering un- 
 soundness prior to purchasing. The author is a scientific 
 man, and his work is popularly written, and likely to be 
 useful." — Leeds Mercury. 
 
 *' This iManual, though of small size, is far from being of 
 small value, and cannot fail to be useful not only to farmers, 
 innkeepers, and others engaged in posting, but also to every 
 one who may have occasion to purchase a useful and ser- 
 viceable horse. If a person make himself master of the 
 maxims it contains he will be fully prepared to select a 
 sound animal, as well as to detect and prevent the imposi- 
 tion of ordinary horse-dealers. It also contAins an expose 
 of the laws relating to sale and warranty of horses, which 
 cannot be too well known, because to borrow the motto of 
 the work, ' the buyer hath need of a hundred eyes, but the 
 seller of only one.'" — Stirling Journal. 
 
 *' This is a well-composed and useful little volume." — 
 Agricultural Journal. 
 
 " We would recommend no person to purchase a horse 
 without having previously purchased and perused Air. 
 Stewart's book of advice."— GZas^ow Chronicle.. 
 
 " This is an exceedingly useful little volume, which every 
 Tyro in the art of horse dealing should lose no time in 
 becoming possessed oV— Dumfries Courier. 
 
^7