^* "^'/AsA ■/- ^^/o^n tJ-J^ It 9^ THE HORSEMAN .S MANUAL BEING A TREATISE ON SOUNDNESS, THE Ijaw of Warranty^ AND GENERALLY ON THE LAW:5 RELATING TO HORSES. By R. S. SURTEES, Lincoln's Inn Fields lottticn : ALFRED MILIJER, isr, OXFORD STREET. 1831. B ^ # Ml A, Pittinan, 18, Warwick Square, • ♦ DEDICATION TO RALPH JOHN LAMBTON, ESQ. MERTON HOUSE, DURHAM. MY DEAR SIEj The accurate knowledge you possess of all that is connected with that noble animal the Horse induces me humbly to offer to your notice the following pages on the laws relating thereto, trusting to your well-known liberality for over- looking all errors and imperfections. That you may for many years continue to occupy the distinguished position you have so long held in the Sporting World, is the sincere wish of, "My dear Sir, Your very faithful and obedient servant, R. S. SURTEES. Lincoln's Inn Fields, Nov. 1830. INTRODUCTION, The glorious uncertainty of the Law has long been proverbial; but to no one of its multitudinous branches is this saying more applicable than to the uncertainty of the law of warranty on the pur- chase and sale of horses. Owing to the nature of their profession, the Judges have not those opportunities of acquiring information, or of ascertaining by experience the various peculiarities and qualifications of the horse, which are necessary to be known in order to arrive at a proper conclusion on points connected with them. Many of their decisions are founded more in theory than practice; and even their theory is oftentimes the dicta of Veterinary Surgeons and other practical men. But their ignorance of the economy of the horse a3 is not the only disadvantage under which- their Lordships labour when forming an opinion on what is commonly called a " horse cause/' The contra- dictory evidence, not to say perjury, and the sta- bularian and technical terms which are made use of, tend much to heighten the embarrassment under ^vhich they are placed. Far be it from me to say anything disrespectful of their Lordships. On deep and intricate ques- tions of law no countrj- possesses Judges more competent to decide than we are blessed with in England ; and vdiile I assert their general ignorance ■with respect to horses, I must also admit that it is a species of knowledge almost incompatible with the 2:ra^'e and laborious duties Avhich thev have to perform. But if to the administrators of the law the sub- ject is one of difficulty, how much more perplex- ing must it be to the ordinarj- citizen of the world, who, in addition to his own opinion, lias frequently to contend with adverse doctrines promulgated by the Judges, without in many instances knowing where to find the decisions ! Important as is the law of warranty on the sale and purchase of horses to a numerous class of per- 5K)ns iia this country, it is matter of surprise that vu no attempt should have been made to collect in 9, small compass and practical form the various deci* sions on this subject which lie scattered through the whole body of lav>- reports. With the exception of a short anonymous trea- tise, intitled " The Laws relating to Horses/' tincJ w^hich, though professing to be intended ^' for practical as well as professional reference," hardly notices this most important part of the subject, the author is not avrare of any %\or]c which treat* at all copiously of the Law of Warranty of Horses. So contradictory are many cases, and so unset-» tied even at the present day is the law of v.-arranty^, that any endeavour to reconcile tlie conflicting opinions of the Courts v.ould serve rather to ob* scure than to elucidate the subject. The only object which the writer of this little treatise has in view is, by arranging the decision* in a systematical form, to enable the reader to draw his own conclusions as to their leaning and ten- dency: to assist in doing v.hich, and also to enable him to form an opinion upon points where no legal authority is laid down, the author has had recourse to the writings and opinions of eminent 'N'^'eterinary Surgeons of the past and present day. To these gentlemen, particularly to Professor Vlll Coleman of the Veterinary College, and IVIr.Mavor of New Bond Street, the author's acknowledg- ments are due ; as also to the members of his own profession, who have so kindly aided his endea« vours, particularly to his friend Edward Lorain e, Esq. 27, Lincoln's Inn Fields, Nov. 1830, CASES CITED. Adams v. Richards, 2 H. Bl. 573 Po/^e 6-. Williams, 1 Carr. N. P. 294 67 Bexwell i*. Christie, Cowp. 395 95, 9S Buchanan y. Pamshaw, 2 T. R. 745 103 Brown v. Staton, 2 Chit. 353 1«'3 Coltherd v. Puncheon, 2 Dowl. andRy. 10 IS Chandelor v. Lepus, Cro. Jac. 4 IS Curtis V. Hannay, 3 Esp. 83 89 Caswell r. Coare, 1 Taunt. 567 •• 64 ConoUy v. Parsons, 3 Ves.jun. 625 98 Dyerr. Hargrave, 10 Ves. 507 49 Dunlop r. Waugh, Peake N. P. C. 167 67 Drury f. Defontaine, 1 Taunt. 131 66 Eaves r. Dixon, 2 Taunt. 343 U Elton V. Brogden, 4 Carap. 281 24, 40 Ellis V. Mortimer, 1 New Rep. 257 62 Earle r. Patterson, MSS 2^ Fielder u. Stark in, 1 H. Bl. 17 53 Fenn t'. Harrison, 3 T. R. 707 69 Fennellr.Ridler, 8D. andR. 204 67 X Geddes v. Pennington, 5 Dow. 159 Page 14 Garment v. Barrs, 2 Esp. 673 39 Howard v. Castle, C T. R. 642 98 Hands y. Burton, 9 East 349 6, 17 Helyearu. Hawke, 5 Esp. 72 69 Muygh V. Gray, MSS Ill Jones u. Cowley, 6 D. and R. 533 12 JolifFv. Bendall, 1 R. andM. 136 30 Lewis V, Cosgrave, 2 Taunt. 2 18 Mellish V. Motteux, Peake N. P.C. 156 18 M'Kenziey. Hancock, 1 R. and M.436 65 Mesnard r. Aldridge, 3 Esp. 2/1 109 Onslow V, Eames, 2 Stark. 81 37 Parkinson v. Lee, 2 East 323 18 Pickering v. Busk, 15 East 45 69 Richardson t'. Brown, 1 Biiig. 349 13 Skrifie V. Elmore, 2 Camp. 407 16 Shillitoe v. Claridge, 2 Chitty R. 425 25 Taunton u. Adams, MSS Ill Wallace v. Woodgate, 1 C.and P. 575 71 CONTENTS. Chap. I.— .On Sales by Private Contract, and THE Law of "NVahranty Page I Chap. II.— Cases of Ails or Injuries REauiR- iNG specific Notice 19 Buck Eyes 20 Capped Hocks 24 Cough , ib. Crib-biting 26 Curbs , 29 Cutting, or Interfering ib. Hereditary Disease 30 Nerving 33 Quidding 35 Hoaring 36 Splents 38 String Halt 39 Temporary Lameness ib. Thorough Pin 41 Thrush ib. Weavers 42 Wind-suckers , ■ 43 Chap. HI— Vice Page 44 Fraud 49 Copeing 51 Age 55 Trial 57 Returning 64 Chap. IV.— On Contracts 66 Dealing on Sunday ib. Selling Horses by Servants or Agents 67 Livery Stables 71 Resale by a Purchaser with a Warranty 73 Spiiths ib. Veterinary Surgeons 74 C-BhT. V Sales by Auction 75 Tatlersall's 78 Bazaar, King-steeet, Portman-square 83 Chap.' VI.— -Horses Sold by Auction under a Warranty of Soundness 105 ADDENDA. ROYAX. ViTIRiNAr.y College , ,.121 THE HORSEMANS MANUAL, CHAP. I. ON SALES BY PRIVATE CONTRACT, AND THE LAW OF WARRANTY. \y ARRAXTY, as applicable to horse-deaiing transactions, may be divided into two kinds— the one, A GENERAL WARRANTY, extending, according to the doctrine laid down by Lord ^Mansfield, to all faults known and unknown to the seller : The other, A QUALIFIED WARRANTY, extending equally to all faults known and unknown to the seller, except certain ones specifically mentioned and excepted in the warranty. Having premised thus much, I shall first men- tion the requisite to constitute a sale by private contract ; and shall then proceed to shew in what B condition the law requires a horse to be with which a general warranty is given, and v.hich is as applicable to sale b}' i)ublic auction as by private contract. To constitute a binding contract or agreement for the sale of any goods, Avares, or merchandises (under which terms horses are included) of the \'alue often pounds or upwards, the 17th section of an Act of Parliament passed in the 29th year of the reign of King Charles the Second, chapter 3, commonly called the " Statute of Frauds" — mean- ing thereby the Statute against frauds — enacts, " That the buyer shall accept part of the goods so sold, and absolutely receive the same, or give something as earnest to bind the bargain, or in part payment, or that some note or memorandum in writing of the bargain be made and signed by the parties to be charged with such contract." For instance : if I agree with a man for the pur- chase of a horse for fifty poinids, but no deliverj- takes place at the time, nor is any thing gi^ en to bind the bargain, and there is no written memo- randum made respecting it, the owner is at liberty to resell the liorse to any person he may after- wards meet, and Avith whom he may be able to make better terms for himself; and I have no re- medy against him for this breach of faith. While, on the contrary, had I given him a penny, or any thing else, to bind the bargain, or reduced the terms of it into writing, on proving the payment of the earnest, or on production of the memorandum of agreement, I should be entitled to recover damages against the seller for this depar- ture from his bargain. This custom of giving money to bind the bar- gain on the sale of horses has fallen into disuse in many parts of England ; but in the nortliern counties it is still preserved with great strictness, and in them a horse-dealer would as soon think of appearing in a fair without his whip in his hand, or a straw in his mouth, as without hi^; pennies to ^' hansell," or bind his bargain. Blackstone, in his Commentaries on the Lcnrs of England, says, that '' Anciently among all the northern nations shaking of hands v/as held necessary to bind the bargain — a custom which we still retain in many verbal contracts. A sale thus made vras called hand-sale — ' venditlo iier midiiam maninnn com- plexionetu — a sale by the mutual joining of hands : — till in process of time the same word was used to signify the price, or earnest, which was given immediately after the shaking of hands, or in- stead thereof." B 2 4 As soon as the bargain is struck, tlie law consi- ders the property of the horse, or whatever else is the subject of it, is transferred to the buyer, and that of the price to the seller ; but the buyer can- not take him away until he i^ays, or offers, the price agreed upon. But if he offers the money to the seller, and he refuses to deliver him, the buyer may seize the horse, or bring an action against the seller for detaining him. And if the sale has been regularly made as pre- scribed by the Statute, and though there has been no delivery, yet the property in the animal is abso- lutely vested in the purchaser. And if A. sells a horse to B. for thirty pounds, and B. pays him earnest, or signs a note in writing of the bargain, and afterwards, before the delivery of the horse, or money paid, the horse dies in A. the seller's custody, still A. is entitled to the money, because, by the contract, the property was in the buyer. If, therefore, it were only to guard against this one case, it were well for the seller to make the bargain binding. The case of Alexander against Comber shews the disadvantages accruing to a buyer by not doing the same. The subject of the action was a flock of sheep of the value of fifty pounds, which Alexander had verbaUj/ agreed to buy of Comber at Lewes fair in Sussex, and to take them away at a certain hour. It appeared that there was not any money paid, any memorandum made respecting them, or any sheep delivered ; and Alexander not coming at the appointed time, or sending for them. Comber resold the sheep to another person, whereupon Alexander brought his action. The Court held, that the terms imposed by the Act of Parliament had not been complied with by Alexander so as to vest the property in him, there having been neither earnest, deliver}-, nor agree- ment in writing ; and, consequently, he could not mainta^'n his action. It not unfrequently happens that horses are exchanged : sometimes one is given for another without any farther consideration ; but more gene- rally there is a sum paid in addition to the horse given, by one of the exchangers, to make up the difference in value. There is no difference between sales and ex- changes ; but a delivery on one or both sides is essential to establish the contract. If the exchange be made without any pecuniary consideration, but it is agreed that one horse shall B 3 be warrjinted sounds and the other shall not, this ought to be expressly stated in writing, and signed by the person warranting. Where there is a sum of money paid in addition to the horse given, the parties may reckon the price according to their own mode^ as in the case of Ha7ids against Burton, where the action was brought on the warranty of ahorse stated as having been })urchased for the entire sum of thirty gui- neas ; whereas the proof was of an agreement to purchase at that price if the defendant would take another horse at fourteen guineas, and the difference only be paid by the defendant ; and it was held to be but one deal, and that the parties were at liberty to consider the horse given as the sum of fourteen guineas in their mode of reckoning. Supposing us to have purchased a horse under a general warranty of soundness^ and that the bar- gain is completed by delivery, Ave will proceed to examine what the Judges say on the subject of soundness. But first, as they, in their decisions of questions of this nature, are not only accustomed to attach much weight to the opinions of veterinary surgeons, but have even been known on their evidence to over-rule former cases ; and following up my posi- tion, that their practical knowledge is generally derived from the evidence of this class of persons ; I shall first state the opinion of ]Mr. Taplin, a vete- rinary surgeon of great experience, who wrote in the last century, respecting what were considered the requisites for a sound horse in his time : after which I shall give the ideas of an eminent practi- tioner of the present day; and then proceed to men- tion the different cases decided by the Judges, which constitute the law on the subject as it now stands. 3Ir. Taplin, in page 14 of the first volume, 13tli edition, of his book called the Gentleman's Stable Directorij, after treating of the age of a horse, thus proceeds—. " Then should follow a most minute and atten- tive inspection, or rather strict examination, of those points constituting the distinctions between imper-* fections, blemishes, and defects in general, doubt- fully implied, and not al^aj^s perfectly understood by the common assurance of ^ sound wind and limb' — to ascertain the veracity of "which techni- cal phraseology much nicety of discrimination appertains. " Amongst sportsmen (Avho are justly entitled to the appellation of gentlemen, and possess a high and proper sense of honour, and the principle of equity) the general acceptation of the word sound B 4 8 has ever been, and 67/7/ u, intended to convey an hoHorable unequivocal assurance of the perfect state of both the frame and bodily health of the subject, without exception or ambiguity. '' It is meant to imply the total absence of i)lem- ishes, as well as defects (unless particularly pointed out and explained), and is really intended to con- firm a bona fide declaration of the horse's being (at the time) free from cverij imperfection — labouring under no impediment to sight or action. — This is the established intent and meaning of the M'ord ' sound' amongst gentlemen and sportsmen : its explication and various uses, for the convenient purposes and impositions of grooms, dealers, black* legs, and jobbing itinerants, are too perfectly understood (by those -vvho have run the gauntlet of experience and deception) to require farther animadversion." Though not properly applicable to a work of this nature, I cannot omit the folio .ving piece of advice given by the same author, and immediately following the above quotation :— '' However, as you can but very seldom possess the good fortune to purchase of a genthnnan, it will prove no contemptible ])ractice to adopt the sage old maxim, and ' deal witii an honest man as you would with a rogue.' This precaution may pre* 9 vent a probable repentance, and palpably urges the necessity of putting your own judgment and circumspection in competition with the integrity of your opponent, however he may be favored by fortune, or sanctioned by situation." IVIr. J\Iavor, of New Bond-street, a veterinary surgeon of great practical experience, in answer to the following question :— - ^' What do you consider constitutes a sound horse ?" Says— ^^ I consider a horse to be sound M'hich is perfect in structure and perfect in function. '' I also consider a horse to be sound, though with alteration in the structure, provided he has never been either lame or incapacitated (and is not likely to become lame and incapacitated) from performing the ordinary duties to which he may be subjected in consequence of such alteration, and can perform them with equal facility as if there had been no such alteration of structure/' Alteration of structure is perhaps a technical term, and, as here applied, means any alteration in the original mould in which Nature form.ed the horse; and which alteration may be either the work of design or produced by accident — as for B 5 10 instance^ the docking or arrangement of the tail to meet the fashion of the day ; or the enlargement of a tendon, caused b\^ a blow, or produced from over-exertion. Looking through the various reports of cases, the reader will not fail to observe that by far the greatest number and most important cases relating to horses have been tried before the late Lord Ellenborough, who was rather celebrated than otherv.ise for possessing excellent horses, and who, in addition to great legal acquirements, had a better practical knowledge of them than any Judge of the past or present times. In two causes tried before this Learned Lord (and to which I shall have occasion to advert by name more fully hereafter), the law as to what constitutes soundness is laid doAvn in the following concise manner : — In the first one, he says — " If a horse be affected by any malady which ren- ders him less serviceable for a permanency, I have nodoubt that it is unsoundness." And in the other— '' I have always held, and now hold, that a war- ranty of soundness is broken iftlie animal, at the time of the sale, had any infirmity upon liim which 11 rendered him less fit for present service. It is not necessary that the disorder should be permanent or incurable." Adopting, then, the doctrine of Lord Ellenbo- rough, that any infirmity which renders a horse less fit for present service, or any malady which renders him less serviceable for a permanency, constitute unsoundness, we have ascertained what state a horse must be in to allow of the general warranty being given ; and I think it will be seen on reference, that his Lordship complimented My. Taplin, by adopting as law in this century what that gentleman advanced as mere matter of opinion in the last one. However, were the owners of all horses which do not answer his Lordship's or i\Ir. Taplin's defi- nition of soundness to be precluded from selling them, I fear very few of the steeds in England would change masters (for I believe it is generally allowed that there are five unsound to every two sound horses) : these, therefore, must be disposed of with a qualified warranty, or else without any warranty at all. Before I proceed to speak of qualified warranty, I must do the Learned Lord the justice to say, that the doctrines expounded by him, particularly in the two cases from which I ha^e quoted, have B 6 12 gone far to check that indiscriminate use of tiie general warranty -which formerly j)revailed; and very few gentlemen owners of horses of the present day warrant their horses at all, or at most only give qualified ones. I cannot help mentioning a system which is becoming pretty general in London, of gentlemen ijubmitting their horses to the inspection of a veterinary surgeon to decide on their soundness ; the usual and equitable terms of which are, that the purchaser shall pay the fee if the horse is pro- nounced sound, and the intended seller in cases where he is rejected. A qualified warranty, as I said before, war- rants a horse to be sounds with the exception of certain ills or injuries which are specifically pointed out, or named, at the time of sale — as in the case of Jone^s against Cowlcij, where the latter warranted a horse to be sound everywhere except a kick on the leg ; which -vvas held by the Court of King's Bench to be a qualified and not a general warranty. In like manner any other exception can be made, as " warranted sound and without blemish except a thrush or broken knee." And as it is very desirable, in all transactions between man and man, that every circumstance which might raise a 13 doubt should be avoided, the exceptions should be inserted in the body of the warranty. In the wording of the warranty it is also desirable to guard against ambiguity. In a case of Bichardson against Brofvn, where the warranty given on the sale of a horse was contained in a notice in these terms : — " To be sold, a black gelding, five years old : has been constantly driven in the plough — war* ranted :" The Court decided that the warranty applied only to the soundness. But in another case of Colthcrd against Puncheon, proof that a horse was a '' good drawer" only, was not held to satisfy a warranty that he was " a good drawer, and pulled quietly in harness." However, some horses, when they change their masters, frequently undergo a great alteration; and a horse that has been perfectly docile in the hands of one man may become completely unmanageable in the possession of another. If, therefore, the change can be shewn to have taken place subsequently to the purchase, and that the horse was quiet before, it will not invali- date the transaction; for, though a man sells a horse to another, it does not follow that he is to 14 turn riding-mastei% and teach the purchaser to manage him. In the case of Gcddc.s against Pennington, v/here the action w as brought on a warranty of a horse "thorough broke for gig or saddle/' which was proved to be true, and that his bad demeanour in the hands of the purchaser was owing to his want of skill in driving, the Court refused to rescind the contract, notwithstanding there were real circum- stances of misrepresentation attending it. As the warranty (whether general or qualified) applies to the condition of the horse at the time of the sale, it follows, as a matter of course, that it must be given at that time, otherwise it cannot be considered as forming part of the bargain. In the case of Eaves against Dixon, which was an action brought by Eaves to recover the value of a horse bought by him of Dixon, but which died a few days after the sale, the plaintiff having failed in proving that there was anything the matter with the horse at the time of the sale, the Judge said— " On the warranty of a horse it is not sufficient for the plaintiff to give such evidence as to induce a suspicion that the horse was unsound : if he only throws the soundness into doubt, he is not entitled 15 to recover ; the plaintiff must posit ic el i/ prove thai the horse was unsound at the time of the sale" And the seller must remember that he is strictly confined to the terms expressed at the time of sale, and that the terms of the warranty will be strictly construed against him ; and that no verbal declara- tions or qualifications subsequently made will be permitted to explain^ after, or discharge the legal effect of the warranty. But it is an established rule that the original conti'act is to be construed with equal strictness as to both parties; and a purchaser cannot insist upon the fulfilment of part/ and reject the residue. And where a contract or agreement has been once closed and partly carried into effect, it cannot be affected by any declarations subsequently made; for the law then considers them to be made without any consideration, and it will not support transactions where no inducement is expressed or implied. The purchase-money, or price of the horse, is the consideration here meant ; and the law always requires that the cause should be shewn whereby one man is induced to part with his goods to another, or perform any alleged contract; for it will not lend its aid in enforcing the fulfilment of what is called a " nudum pactum/' or agreement 16 to do or pay any thing on one side without a compensation on the other. For instance: if I promise to give a man a horse, and there is nothing promised or given on the other side, the law will not enforce the perform.ance of my promise. Formerly it was doubtful whether it were neces- sary to have a warranty on a stamp or not ; but that point is now settled, and it has been decided that it is not. Mr. Selwyn, in his Law of Nisi Prius, says— " It is usual to insert the warranty in the re- ceipt for the price of the horse ; in such case, the receipt, if duly stamped with a receipt stamp, "tviil be evidence of the warranty. It does not now require an agreement stamp." The question was tried before Lord Ellenbo- rough, in an action brought by iS/xri?ie against Elmore, on the warranty of a horse : to prove which, Skrine produced a written paper, signed by Elmore, which had a receipt stamp, and con- tained a receipt for the price of the horse with the words '' warranted sound " subjoined. Elmore's Counsel objected that this was not evidence for the purpose of proving the warranty without an agreement stamp. 17 IMr. Dainpier, who was the plaintiff's Counsel, said that Mr. Justice Lawrence had decided that such a receipt might be received in evidence to prove the warranty as well as the payment of the price of the horse, if it had a receipt stamp merely; to which doctrine Lord Ellenborough assented. The trial of Hands against Burton is also a case in point. Some people still rely upon the now-exploded doctrine as to an implicit warranty arising out of giving what is called a '• sound price" for a horse; that is, such a price as, from the appearance and nature of the animal, Avould be a full and fair price for it if in fact it were free from blemish and vice : and I merely mention it, in order that no one may be induced to relinquish any of that vigilance and circumspection so necessary in the purchasing of horses, and so ably recom.niended by IMr. Taplin on the faith of this doctrine. It was first started by IMr. Christian, in a note to his edition of IMr. Justice Blackstone's Comme)i^ iarics on the Laws of England ; but IMr. Selwyn says — ^' Formerly, indeed, it was a current opinion that a sound price given for a horse was tantamount to a warranty of soundness ; but it was observed 18 by Justice Grose^ in Parkinson v. Lee, that when that doctrine came to be sifted, *t was found to be so loose and unsatisfactory a ground of decision, that Lord Mansfield rejected it, and said that there must either be an express warranty of soundness, or fraud in the seller, in order to main- tain the action." It has, however, been decided in several cases*, that the price paid is a circumstance entitled to weight where there is evidence of express w^ar- ranty, although not clearly shewn j and may be coupled with a knowledge of the defect in the seller, or other circumstances of suspicious dealing on his part, to raise the question with the Jury of fraud, entitling the purchaser to recover back the purchase-money. * Chandelor i*. Lopus, Cro. Jac. 4. Parkinson v. Lee, 2 East, 3-23. Mellish V. 3Icrrfeux, Peake. 15G. Baglehole f. Walters, 3 Camp. 154. Lewis V. Cosgrave, 2 Taunt. 2. 19 CHAP. II. We have now seen the course to be pursued on the purchase or sale of horses : we have also seen in what state the law requires a horse to be with which a general Avarranty of soundness is given, as well as the circumstances requiring a qualified one ; and we have seen the time when such warranty, "whether general or qualified_, must be given. To enumerate the various ails and injuries to which horses are liable, and which constitute unsoundness, would far exceed the limits of a work of this nature. IMost of them are notoriously so to the com- monest observer ; and many, on which a doubt may exist, v\'ill be found described, together with their relative causes, appearances, and conse- quences, in the pages of a Taplin, a White, or a Lawrence. There are, however, a few cases which seem to require a specific notice ; for, notwithstanding the 20 law upon some of them may be established, the general reader is not aware of the fact; while other cases are as yet either doubtful, or have no rule whatsoever laid down respecting them. I shall commence, therefore, with a case respect- ing what is commonly called BUCK EYE?. The eye of the horse is such a difficult matter to judge of, and liable to so many injuries, that it is almost impossible for any but a veterinary surgeon to give an opinion respecting it. In actions where the alleged breach of warranty consists in a defect in the eye, it is a very difficult matter, after any lapse of time, to pro\'e the existence of the disease prior to the sale. There was a trial took place at Guildhall very lately, where tlie plaintiff, although a lawyer, failed in his proof of unsoundness. The action was brought by IMr. Earle, a soli* citor, residing at Bomford in Essex, against a person of the name of Patterson. It appeared, that on the 11th of last Februaiy Mr. Earle came to London, and put up his horse at the stables of a person named Milbank, residing at London Wall, where he saw the mare which 21 was the subject of the action, and finally purchased her for thirty-one pounds, the defendant having -warranted her ■iound. The mare was then given to a carrier to be conveyed to Romford ; and on the road the carrier observed that she began to stare and whisk about, which led him to conclude that something was the matter with her eyes, and he imparted liis suspicions to the plaintiff, IMr. Earle, who, however, attributed the symptoms to the mare not having been worked for some time, and having been kept in a warm stable. At the end of three vreeks the defect in the eyes of the mare became more apparent, and it was then ascertained that she was what was technically termed -' buck-eyed ;" and after the lapse of six weeks, she lost the sight of one of her eyes : and, from the state in which she appeared to the veterinary surgeon by whom she had been exa- mined, it was clear that at the time of sale the animal had an incipient disease. The plaintiff was ultimately obliged to dispose of the mare for thirteen pounds ; and he now sought a verdict for the difference betw^een that simi and the price which he had paid for the animal. Mr. Thomas Milbank proved the sale of the mare for thirty-one pounds. The bargain was 22 made at witness's stables at London Wall, and the mare was taken away by a Romford carrier. Cross-examined hij Serjeant Taddif. — The sale took place in February last, and there were frost and snow on the ground. The mare had been kept in a warm stable prior to her removal ; and it was probable that taking her suddenly into the open air, with only one cloth to cover her, would have produced inflammation in her eyes. A Romford carrier deposed to his having con- veyed the mare from the stables of the last witness to the plaintiff's stable at Romford. On the road she started at objects, and discovered symptoms of being '- buck-eyed." JSIr. IVm. Sen'ell, the veterinary surgeon, pro^'ed that he examined the mare by direction of the plaintiff about six weeks after the sale, and found that she had a confirmed cataract in one of her eyes, and that she was what is called '* buck-eyed" —a disease which rendered her near-sighted. In his cross-examination the witness said that inflammation in the eyes of a horse might be occasioned by a too sudden exposure to cold after the animal had been used to vrarm clothing. Other witnesses were called for the plaintiff, and gave similar evidence to the foregoing. 23 Mr. Serjeant Taddy addressed the Jury for the defendant, and denied that the mare had any incipient disease at the time the defendant sold her to the plaintiff. The cause of the inflamma- tion in her eyes ".vas the improper Avay in Avhich she had been conveyed to Romford : and to prove that the plaintiff was satisfied with his purchase, he not only made no complaint for several weeks after, but actually said he would not take fifty guineas for the animal, she suited his wife so well. It then appeared that he sold the mare for thirteen pounds, without having given any previous notice to the defendant. Two witnesses were then called forv/ard on the part of the defendant. One of them proved that he had frequently ridden the mare, and ne^er considered that any thing was the matter v.-itli her eyes : and the other said, that he would have given fifty guineas for the animal before she had been sold to the plaintiff. The Lord Chief Justice Tindal charged the Jury, who, after a short consultation in the box, agreed to retire ; and, after remaining out of Court for five hours, they returned vrith a verdict for the defendant. 24 CAPrKD HOCKS, or an enlargement of the cap of the liock, does not often cause lameness, though it is a blemish. At the Veterinary College, they generally re- commend a special warranty against unsound- ness arising from it to be taken. COUGH. In a case of Ellon against Brogdai, tried before Lord Ellenborough, he says, " While a horse has a cough, I say he is unsouHcI, although thai maij cither he fofiporari/ or prove mortal." I may here obser^'e, that the opinion expressed by his Lordship in this case respecting coughs seems to Iiave been rather gratuitous ; inasmuch as the real question was, whether temporary lame- ness constituted unsoundness. Nevertheless it is well worthy of attention; for I know by expe- rience that very many people consider coughs of trifling or no importance; and I have known gentlemen, wlio would disdain to do a mean or dishonorable act, who have, through sheer igno- rance of the fiict, neither scrupled to sell and 29 warranty nor even to buy, horses with them ; and it is only those who have witnessed the direful effects produced by coughs — which, from his Lord- ship's mentioning the subject in this manner, I dare say he had-— who attach the importance to them which they deserve. However in a subsequent case, of ShilUioe against Claridge, the question came specifically before his Lordship, when he maintained the opinion expressed in Elton against Brogden. It appeared that the horse had a cough at the time of sale, and that he had been bled for it before he was sold, and there w^as no evidence of any inismanagement by the buyer ; and it ap- peared he was told that the horse had a cough, and was only used to the road, and that the purchaser had sent him out hunting. Lord EUenborough said— " If the horse had a cough, he had always held that it was a breach of warranty; and he believed such was the understanding both in the profession and among veterinary surgeons. '- Knowledge," he said, '' made no difference. '' He had always understood that a cough was unsoundness; that the horse in question w^as therefore unsound at the time he was bought; and there was no proof of a discontinuance of c 26 the unsoundness, or that he would have got well if he had not been hunted." CRIB-BITING is a point'upon which a judgment has been given, though generally admitted to be an unsatisfactory one. Mr. White, in his Treatise 7ipou Farrkri/, speaking of crib-biting, says — '' This, though only a trick or habit which a horse gets, and which he may teach another that stands next him, especially a young horse, may be considered as a disorder, because it renders him very liable to indigestion and flatulent colic. " There is no doubt that in crib-biting a horse swallows air ; and I have seen a horse distend his stomach and bowels with it in an enormous degree, and would thereby often get the fatulent colic, and sometimes swell himself so that he can scarcely move." Others say that it is a habit originating in indigestion, by which the animal wastes the saliva which is necessary to digest his food, the conse- quence of which is a gradual emaciation. The question, whether it is to be considered as unsoimdness or not, was tried in an action 27 brought by Broennenbiirg v. Haycock before Mr. Justice Burroughs, "svhen his Lordship said he considered it a mixed case of law and fact. " It is/' says he, ^' a curable vice in its first stage" — (and note, this horse -was only proved to be an incipient crib-biter) — " it is a mere acci- dent, arising fi*om bad management in the training of the horse, and it is no more connected v/ith imsoundness than starting or shying. The plain* tiff might have demanded a warranty against this particular vice." Among the veterinary surgeons with whom I have conversed on the subject, not one of them agree with his Lordship in his view of the case. Where crib-biting exists to a certain extent, I think we may infer, from his Lordship's judgment, that it would constitute unsoundness; and the veterinary surgeons contend that it ought with equal propriety to be considered so in its earlier stage. Were his Lordship's suggestion of demanding a warranty against every particular fault to be acted upon, the warranty given on the sale of a horse would soon extend into something like the size of a modern conveyance of houses or lands. On the subject of crib-biting I cannot do better than quote the opinion of Mr. Yare, the inventor c 2 28 of the new Anti-Crib-biter— a man of great skill, and one who has devoted no small portion of his time to the study and prevention of the vice. " I have/' says he, " no hesitation in saying that a crib-biter is bona Jide an unsound horse ; and notwithstanding the warring litigations that may have occurred occasionally in consequence of the habit;, when a totally opposite notion to mine has been entertained on the question, yet I cannot avoid arraying my individual opinion in opposi- tion to the fearful list of dissentients who may start up against me when my assertion is perused. '' I verily believe that a crib-biter, sold with a warranty of soundness , is to all intents and purposes returnable : and I think I cannot be accounted imfair or erroneous in this position, founded on the well-ascertained fact that crib-bitmg horses are injured in their stamina." Mr. Bracey Clark, a veterinarian of consider- able research and experience, says, that " The crib-biting horse has generally a lean constricted appearance, the skin being contracted about the ribs, or a sunken watery eye, or else too dry ; the muscles of the face also, as well as the skin, drawn up with rigidness. '' When unemployed in eating, his almost con- stant amusement is to grasp the rail of the manger 29 with his front teeth, then to draw himself up to it, as to a fixed point, by a general contraction of the head, neck, and trunk ; at the same time the effort is attended with a grunting sound." CURBS. A curb is a disputed point as to whether con- stituting unsoundness or not, -without having any legal authority that I am aware of laid down on the subject. It is a considerable swelling below the hough, rather on the outside and back part of the leg. IMr. IMavor says he considers them unsoimd- ness, unless it can be proved that the horse has been performing all the duties which are required of him for at least three months without producing lameness ; he should then, he adds, only consider that they amount to blemishes. CUTTING, or Interfering, arises either from excess of action, called the speedy cut, or is a sign of weakness. I am not aware that it has ever been the cause of an action, though the case is by no means an uncommon one. c 3 30 Shoeing may remedy cutting from weakness a little ; but a plain leather boot is most to be depended upon, for, as Bracken observes, " a goose will always go like a goose." Mr. Mavor says, he does not consider cutting to constitute unsoundness if it can be prevented by shoeing or ordinary care. HEREDITARY DISEASE There are no cases reported wherein hereditary diseases in horses have been the subject of action. The following one, of Jo/?^ against Bendell, relates to sheep, the verdict in which may be some guide to persons bringing actions where horses are con- cerned. The sheep, one hundred in number, were sold with a warranty of soundness. At the time of the sale they were, in appearance, perfectly sound and thriving, and continued so for two months after, when one or two of them exhibited symptoms of a disease called by farmers the goggles. The sheep affected shewed signs of giddiness, swelling of the eyes, and hanging of the head. From the time they were first seized they grew weaker and weaker, and for the most part died in about a week or ten days ; and, on dissection, there were 31 signs of water in the head or brain. On the whole, about fifty of the sheep had died under the same appearances; the rest continued appa^ rently well up to the time of trial. There was no contagion — other sheep with which they were fed and kept having continued healthy. Several farmers and others conversant with sheep were called for the plaintiff, who stated the goggles to be, in their opinion, an hereditary disease, arising from breeding in and in, or from relations; and that sheep so disordered would thrive, and seem to be in sound health generally until two or three years old : that there were no means of discover^ ing by the appearance, or otherwise, that sheep were so affected : that it was generally fatal, and no cure or prevention known for it, and reputed amongst farmers an unsoundness. The evidence for the defendant went to shew that the sheep w^ere of a pedigree free from " breeding in and in," and that others of the same sort and older were perfectly sound. The warranty was proved without dispute, and the sheep were all of the same breed. For the defendant it was contended, that the sheep having been healthy and thriving at the time of, and for two months after, the sale, must be considered as sound at that time : that, inas- c 4 32 much as there were no previous symptoms to connect the disease of which they died with their former state of health, there was nothing to shew that the disease existed at the time of sale : and tiiat an hereditary liability to a particular disorder was of too uncertain a nature to be capable of proof, and could not be legally considered as an unsoundness existing at the time stipulated for in the warranty. Lord Chief Justice Abbot left it to the Jury to say, whether at the time of the sale the sheep had existing in their blood or constitution the disease of which they afterwards died ; or whether it had arisen from any subsequent cause ? Verdict for the plaintiff for 1201., the value of the sheep which had died, the defendant agreeing to take back the reinainder. The above case reminds me of the following lines of Lord Byron— Do« Juan, Canto 1, v. 57- *' She married (I forget the pedigree) With an Hidalgo*, who transmitted down His blood less noble than such blood should be. At such alliance his sires would frown, In that point so precise, in each degree. That they bred in and in, as might be shewn, Marrying their cousins— nay, their aunts and nieces, Which always spoils the breed if it increases." • Hidalgo, a title of rank in Spain. 33 NERVING is an operation performed upon a horse, which, while it neither renders it less fit for present use, nor is it certain of rendering him less serviceable for a permanency, has yet been decided to be a species of unsoundness ; on the correctness of which decision a difference of opinion exists in the veterinary profession. It is an operation invented by ISIr. Sewell, the Assistant Professor of the Veterinary College, of which, perhaps, I cannot give a better description than by relating the evidence adduced on a trial when the question was put in litigation. The action was brought by Best against Oshor?ie, and the cause was tried at Westminster in 1825. It was proved that the horse had been nerved. Several eminent veterinary surgeons were called, who stated that the operation of nerving consisted in the division of a nerve leading from the foot up the leg, and that it was usually performed in order to relieve the horse from the pain arising from a disease in the foot ; the nerve cut being the vehicle of sensation from the^foot : That the disease in the foot would not be affected by the operation, and would go on increasing, or not, according to its character ; c 5 34 That horses previously lame from the pain of such a disease would, when nerved, frequently go free from lameness, and continue so for years : that the operation had been found successful in cavalry regiments, and horses so operated upon had been for years employed in active service : but that, in their opinion, a horse that had been nerved, whether by accident or design, was un- sound, and could not be safely trusted for very severe work; and that it was an organic defect. The iiorse in question had not exhibited any lameness. Chief Justice Best (now Lord Wynford) told the Jury that it was difficult to say that a horse in which there was an organic defect could be considered sound ; that sound meant perfect; and a horse deprived of a useful nerve was imperfect, and had not that capacity of service which is stipulated for in a warranty. I cannot go quite the length the Chief Justice did in considering " sound" to mean perfect. I should rather say it meant perfect as far as regarded the nervous and organic system ; for although a horse may be Diinus an ear or his taiJ, yet no one would say that he was an unsound horse on that account, though the word " ble- mished" would be properly applied to the defects. 35 The operation of nerving being a production of the Veterinary College, I need scarcely add that the members of that establishment are dissatisfied with the verdict in the cause I have mentioned. However, I may add that I have found more veterinary surgeons who approve of it than the contrary. QUIDDING. There are some infirmities which have been repeatedly the subjects of actions at kw, but on which, from the conflicting nature of the evidence adduced, the Judges have found it impossible to lay down any general rule. Among these may be classed what is called Quidding. Mr. Mavor says it arises in consequence of the processes of the teeth growing jagged, or from one or more of the teeth in one jaw becoming indented into the teeth of the opposite jaw. '' Extreme cases," he says, " may constitute unsoundness, if it prevents the proper mastication of the food for the purpose of digestion, so that the body is deprived of sufncient nourishment. '^ This complaint sometimes passes by the name of gagg teeth." c 6 S6 ROARING is a point upon which one Judge has delivered two opinions— the latter upsetting the former, and establishing it to constitute unsoundness. The first opinion was given in an action^ Bassett against Collisj in 1810^ where a roarer had been sold with a warranty of soundness; and Lord Ellenborough, before whom it was tried^ said— " It has been held by very high authority that roaring is not necessarily unsoundness ; and I entirely concur in that opinion. '' If the horse emits a loud noise, which is offensive to the ear, merely from a bad habit which he has contracted, or from any cause which does not interfere with his general health and muscular powers, he is still to be considered a sound horse : on the other hand, if the roaring proceeds from any disease or organic infirmity which renders him incapable of performing the usual functions of a horse, then it does constitute unsoundness. " The plaintiff has not done enough in shewing that this horse was a roarer : to prove a breach of the warranty, he must go on to shew that the roaring was symptomatic of disease." The plaintiff in this action did not recover ; but 37 in a subsequent case, of The Hon. Mr. Onslow agSLinat Ecnnes, tvied in 1817^ when Mr. Onslow came before the Court he profited by the hint thrown out by his Lordship, and accordingly brought Mr. Field, the veterinary surgeon, to prove the real origin, or cause, of roaring. Mr. Field, in his evidence, stated it "To be occasioned by the circumstance of the neck of the windpipe being too narrow for accelerated respiration; and that the disorder is frequently produced by sore throat or other topical inflamma- tion ; and that the disorder was'of such a nature^as to incommode a horse very much when pressed to his speed.'' Mr. IMarryatt, who was Counsel for Eames, relied upon the old story of a verj' high authority having decided that roaring did not constitute unsoundness; and I dare say (from the previous judgment given by the same Judge, in Bassett against Collis, as was trying the present cause) felt confident of a verdict for his client. But Lord Ellenborough said— " If a horse be affected by any malady which renders him less serviceable for a permanency, I have no doubt that it is unsoundness : I do not go by the noise, but by the disorder." And from that time down to the present day 38 roaring has been acbnitted to be a species of unsoundness. Being on this subject, I will just add Mr. Mayor's opinion on roaring, and also on the subject of high blowers, contained in an answer to the following question :— " What is the difference between a roarer and a high blower ; and do you consider them to consti- tute unsoundness?" " The difference between a roarer and a high blower exists only in variety of the same disease : the latter arising from disease of the larynx or its appendages, and the former more frequently is the effect of general inflammation in the organs of respiration. " Either I hold to constitute unsoundness." SPLENTS have been the subject of several actions : but, for the same cause as that assigned with respect to the cases relating to Quidding, no account of them is to be fovmd in the law reports. They are defined to be hard excrescences of different shapes and sizes on the shank bone, and I believe are not considered dangerous unless situated near the joints, or appear very large upon the 39 back part of the bone, or press against the back sinew. Mr. Mavor says he does not consider them to constitute unsoundness unless accompanied by lameness, or are likely to cause lameness by per» forming such duty as the horse is calculated for. STRING HALT, or a singularly high motion or twitching up of the hind legs, I believe, is not considered to constitute unsoundness ; but there are no recorded cases in point. It is, however, a most palpable blemish. TEMPORARY LAMENESS seems to be an injury which will not support a general warranty of soundness. A contrary opinion formerly prevailed, founded upon the doctrine laid down by Sir James Eyre, when Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, in an action brought by one Gannefit against a person of the name of Barrs, in the year 1/98, on a general warranty of a mare. The evidence shewed, that at the time of sale Garment observed that she went rather lame of one leg, which Barrs said was occasioned by her taking 40 up a nail at the farrier's ; and his Lordship said, that ** 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; and when a warranty is made that such a horse is sound, it is made without any view to that injury : nor is a horse so circumstanced an unsound horse within the meaning of the warranty.'* Elton against Brogde?i was also an action brought on a general waiTanty of soundness, and the plaintiff proved that the horse was lame at the time of sale. Brogden, the defendant, admitted this, but undertook to prove that the lameness was of a temporary nature, and that the horse afterwards recovered, and had since been in all respects sound. Lord Ellenborough, before whom the action was tried, said — " I have always held, and now hold, that a waiTanty of soundness is broken, if the animal at the time of sale had any infirmity upon him which rendered him less fit for present service. It is not necessary that the disorder should be permanent or incurable." 41 THOROUGH FIN. A thorough pin is an enlargement on each side of the hock, and in appearance resembles a wind- gall. In its earlier stages it does not produce lameness, and generally yields to blistering. If not taken in time, firing becomes necessary ; but at no time can a horse with one be safely sold with a general warranty of soundness. THRUSH. There have been several cases tried respecting " Running Thrushes/' as they are commonly called ; but the reporters say there was always so much contradictory evidence adduced that the Court found it impossible to lay down any general rule. IMr. Taplin says— • " A thrush is a varicose state of the frog, which becoming perforated in different parts bears the appearance of rapid decay and rottenness, occasioned by an ichorous corrosive discharge, frequently the evident effects of neglect in suffer* ing the horse to go badly shod till the frog, by repeated bruises, loses its original property and becomes diseased. 42 " To inattention," he says, " the complaint is generally owing; and by early care it is generally cured — though (he adds) there are undoubtedly instances of such defects being what are termed natural blemishes." Professor Coleman ridicules the idea of a thrush being considered as unsoundness ; though he says, that in the case of a horse being sent to the Veterinary College for examination with one, he should mention the circumstance in his certificate of examination. Mr. Mayor's answer to the question— " Do you consider thrushes unsoundness }" Says— " I do not consider a horse unsound with a thrush if it is only a slight discharge from the cleft of the frog, without any alteration in the structure or appearance of the frog ; but if the frog is altered in its structure, I then pronounce it unsoundness." WEAVERS. Weaving is merely a trick of moving the fore part of the body from side to side in the staD, resembling a weaver throwing the shuttle. It is not considered injurious. 43 WIND-SUCKERS. Wind- sucking is nearly the same as crib-biting, only the horse does not take hold of the naanger. Some consider it worse, others not so bad : no one, however, considers it a recommendation, and many people require a warranty against it. 44 CHAP. III. VICE. I HAVE not been able to find any cases wherein the question has been tried whether a general warranty of soundness will be construed, accord- ing to Mr. Taplin's definition, to extend to vice and blemishes, or to either ; neither do I find any cases arising out of the sale of vicious horses : but the anonymous writer on the " Law of Horses," who I mentioned in my introduction, says— « " So, where the warranty extends to freedom from vice or blemish, it is sufficient that the animal has any disposition or habit incompatible with the safety of an ordinary rider to make it a breach of warranty." He does not, however, cite any authority in support of his assertions. It may be observed, that he talks of cases where the warranty does extend to assurance against \'ice and blemish ; but as horse-dealers (and they are the people who generally make use of warranties) seldom or ever introduce more than the words *' warranted sound" into their receipts for the price of the horse, unless expressly desired, I 45 recommend all purchasers to insist upon the addi- tion of the words, " free from vice^ and without a blemish." But even with these I fear a purchaser can scarcely consider himself secure. A curious case occurred to me some years ago, arising out of the omission of the above Words. IMy brother being in want of a hunter, we were walking together through a public horse-fair held in the streets of a country town, when our attention was attracted by a very neat-made chesnut horse rode past by a dealer. We stopped him, and_, after riding the horse and approving of him in every respect, my brother purchased him for some fifty or sixty guineas, taki»ng the usual receipt for the money, which I wrote out, adding the words " warranted sound in every respect." The horse did very well at first, but he was soon discovered to have a trick of drinking at every watering place he came to ; and so resolute was; he in his determinations, that, if checked, he would rear and walk on his hind legs up to the trough, and very likely place his fore-legs in it, to the risk of breaking his knees (the troughs being all made of stone in that country) ; and on the last day my brother rode him, he had been obliged to let him 46 almost burst himself with water at one, lest he should take into his head to walk into a deep river along the banks of which he had to pass. On finding this to be the case, I went to the dealer and told him he must take his horse back, for the trick he had rendered him quite useless as a hunter, for which purpose he had been bought ; and I added that I considered he was vicious. This, of course, the dealer denied, and, after talking some time about it, he gave me the follow- ing piece of advice :— f " You should. Sir," said he, " have added free from vice to the warranty : but even then I should not have taken him back, for this is not vice, but playfulness." ! ! ! It was rather rough play certainly; but the words being omitted, we did not feel ourselves in a situation to try whether the Judge would agree in the construction our friend put upon his war- ranty of soundness, and therefore made the best of a bad bargain, and exchanged the horse for another, taking care to add the words in tlie next receipt. Whether this would have been considered by the Judge to be vice, or merely a disagreeable trick or habit, is, I think, doubtful ; though there is no denying that a horse with a belly full 47 of water is ill able to perform the duties of a hunter. Another case of a similar nature occurred to me a few years ago. I purchased a horse at an auction-mart for a friend^ which was " warranted sound and quiet to ride," and though it answered both the specifica- tions, yet when my friend came to ride it, owing to some fault or other in the breaking, it would only turn to the right side, consequently when the rider wished to go to the left he was obliged to wheel quite round. However, we did not consider it a case where we could return the horse upon the warranty. I think the following receipt and warranty, though som.ewhat prolix, would guard against most circumstances :— '^ London, July 1, 1830. " Received of A. B. the sum of fifty pounds for a chesnut gelding, which I hereby warrant to be only six years old last grass ; and also that he is sound, free from vice, restiveness, and faults (par- ticularly crib-biting and wind-sucking), and that he is quiet to ride (or drive), and without a blemish. cc £50 " C. D." It may be as well to add, that not many people Avill ffive the above receipt ; therefore I advise a purchaser to get as much of it as he can, and to examine the horse particularly to see if he has any of the faults or propensities about him wliich the owner objects to warrant him free from. KEW STAMP DUTIES RECEIPTS. 2/. and under 5/... ...0s.2d. 200?. and under 300/. ...is. Od. 5 ditto 10 .. ...0 3 300 ditto 500.. ..5 10 ditto 20 .. ....0 6 500 ditto 1000.. ...7 6 20 ditto 50 .. ....1 1000 or upwards .10 50 ditto 100 .. ...1 6 Receipts in full of all 100 ditto 200 .. ...2 G demands .10 Q ^. B. Receipt Stamps necessary if money be paid by promis- sory notes, &c. Inland Bills of Exclmnge.^^'Dt&it or Order to the Bearer, or to Order, either on Demand or otherwise — Not exceeding 2 months after date, or 60 i For a longer days after sight : | period. If Above Above Above Above Above Above Above ...2/. Qs. 5 5 20 30 50 100 200 300 ' 5/. 55. ...0/. \s. Od. 0/. Is. %d. 20 30 m Above 500 Above 1000 Above 2000 Above 3000 100 200 300 500 1000 2000 3000 ......0 12 15 1 5 1 6 2 2 6 3 6 2 2 3 4 5 6 .0 8 .0 J2 .0 15 ...1 d ,...1 10 49 FRAUD. In order to set aside a bargain for horses (or in- deed for any thing else) any fraud or deception practised at the time of the sale will avoid the con- tract ; and it is not absolutely necessary that the horse should be unsound, so as to constitute a breach of the warranty, in order to annul a bargain where fraud has been practised. But if a man will not use his endeavours to pro- tect his own interest, the law will not take cogni- sance of the impositions which may be practised upon him owing to his negligence. Vigilcuitibns ?io?i dormietdibus jura S2(bve}iw.?it''^ (the laws relieve the careful, not the negligent)—. is an ancient maxim in the law, and forms an insurmountable barrier against the claims of an improvident purchaser. In Di/er against Har grave (a case in Chancery), a purchaser was compelled to take an estate, though varying from the description inserted in the particulars of sale, in consequence of not having taken the trouble to inquire into the truth of the statement. And in another case, of Baijly against Merrel, it was held that no man was bound give credence to 50 another's speech : and the Judges instanced a case where a person buys a horse under a warranty that he has both his eyes, when he hath but one, in which case the buyer is remediless ; for it is a thing which lies in his own cognisance, and such w^arranty or affirmation is not to be material, or be regarded ; but otherwise it is, in cases where the matter is secret, and properly in the cognisance of him who warrants it. I remember a case of deception, which I think w^as brought before one of the Police Offices, and I merely mention it to shew the impositions some people attempt to practise in the sale of horses. It appeared that a Quaker had a horse for sale, which, like many others, was '' the best in Eng- land," and meeting with a customer who wanted a gig-horse, he of course recommended his own. The purchaser inquired if he was quiet in har- ness ; to which the Quaker replied — '^ Friend, it would delight thine eyes to see him draw :" where- upon he purchased him, and immediately put him into a gig, which he broke all to pieces. The purchaser remonsti'ated with the Quaker, and told him that he had warranted the horse to go " quiet in harness :" upon wliich the Quaker replied, " No, friend, I did not : I merely said " that it would delight thine eyes to see him draw; ^nd faith so it would delight mine too, for he never would bear a pair of shafts in his life.'* COPEING. There is a species of swindling carried on ia London under the cloak of horse-dealing, called couping, or copeing, of which persons living in the country have no conception, and are therefore frequently the dupes. A party of scoundrels purchase a fine-looking^ horse to which has happened some accident, peiv haps become blind or broken winded, or who ha* something the matter with him, which, while it renders him perfectly useless, is not apparent at first sight. If, which may sometimes be the case, he is a well-known hunter or racer, he is advertised a? such, and that he is to be sold a bargain. If his fine looks are his only recommendation, they fre-r quently fix upon some well-known horse to which he bears a resemblance, and advertise him as such, generally taking care to word the advertisement so as to leave what they consider a loop-hole to creep out at. For instance, the following one appeared in the Times newspaper of the 19th of July last : d2 52 " For sale, that brilliant short-legged hunter Clinker, well known in the Leicestershire Hunt, beating nine crack horses in the Steeple Chase. Clinker is seven years old, fifteen hands three inches high, equal to fifteen stone, and he defies any horse in England to surpass him — he can top the highest fence ever made, and tail the fleetest hounds. He is a treasure to any sportsman, and why parted with will be explained. Inquire," &c. The person referred to is generally one of the gang, whom they establish in a small shop with a few pounds worth of spectacles, fruit, or any thing to make a show of; or else he is advertised as a private servant, with directions to inquire for Charles or John at such and such a place. The stable (which may be either a blackguard sort of livery or commissioned one, or perhaps a private one, such as a petty tradesman requiring a horse to draw his cart would have) is in the imme- diate neighbourhood of the shop or place of reference, w^here, or in the stable, the person who acts as owner and a groom are to be found. A gentleman of my acquaintance, being struck by the advertisement respecting Clinker, went out of ciu'iosity to see him, and found things arranged as I have described. The pretended owner, a clean neatly-dressed respectable-looking man, was in the stable, and «8 stated that the horse was Captain Ross's Clinker, to whom he said the gentleman might write for information. That his (the owner's) brother was a farmer and breeder, residing at Atherstone in Warwickshire, and had received Clinker from Captain Ross in exchange for another horse, and that he had him from his brother. That he was himself a corn merchant, and merely kept horses to go in his corn cart, for which purpose he thought Clinker too valuable, that he would sell him for eighty pounds, warrant him sound, allow any reasonable trial, and take a bill for the money. Another gentleman, knowing who the fellow was, went to him on the following day, and asked where he could meet him at a certain hour; to which he replied that he was going to the corn market, but should be back by a certain time. However the gentleman somewhat puzzled him by telling him it was not corn market day. He then produced a letter, saying that it was from Lord Anson's groom, stating that his Lord«« ship had seen the advertisement respecting Clinker^ and wished to purchase him, and that the writer woidd be in town a few hours after the receipt of the letter for that purpose. Unfortunately, how- ever, though purporting to have come by the post d3 54 from Warwickshire, the letter was without a post mark. The horse, I am told, was a very fine-looking animal, fully answering the advertisement, though certainly not Captain Ross's horse called Clinker, which it was the object of the advertiser to make the reader believe: however, there is no doubt but he was ruined in some way or other, and merely doctored up for the occasion. The advertisements are differently worded, but generally in the style of the one I have given. Sometimes they assume the philanthropies, and state, '' that price is not so much an object as to get the horse into good hands, and where he will be well taken care off! !" The stables are situated in different parts of town, and, in fact, it is now becoming a regular batsiness. To men who have passed their lives in the busy world of London a notice of this nature may ap- pear superfluous ; but the plans of these swindlers are really so deeply laid, and managed with so much dexterity, that the most cautious may be disarmed by the speciousness and apparent honesty of the scoundrels. In proof of which I need only say, lihat two gentlemen, both members of the legal 55 profession, and possessed of more than ordinary penetration, though expressly told that the thing was a cheat, after seeing the man and hearing him talk they began to doubt the truth of their in* formation. I must, however, add, that the man they saw was the prince of the gang, though many others only want his tact to be equally bad, their defi^ ciency in which luckily makes them less dangerous, A purchaser, mider these circumstances, cannot hope to recover his money in an action against the swindlers; and his only remedy is to indict each person, who appeared either as principal, agent, or accessory, for a conspiracy to defraud, by doing which he will confer an infinite service upon the community. AGE. In purchasing horses the age is a matter of great importance, inasmuch as the value of a horse greatly depends thereon, and, like most other things of consequence, is a very difficult matter to agree upon. Talking of knowing a horse's age by his teeth, the same writer I have before quoted (My. Taplin) says-— d4 56 " iMuch multifarious matter has constantly been written relative to the age of a horse by his mouth, when (after all the observations upon the subject) it becomes an acknowledged fact by every writer, each sign is doubtful, and liable to deception in the various arts and designs of dealers, who, by engraving and burning artificial marks in some teeth, and totally extracting (or beating out) others, render the horse any seeming age most applicable to their purpose. And these faults cannot easily be discovered but by grooms or judges who are in the constant habit or practice of making such re- marks and observations. " Nor is there any matter in a horse requiring a nicer discrimination in judgment than to ascertain to a certainty the age of a horse by his teeth only, having absolutely seen two men of abilities and experience on the opposite sides of a horse's mouth at the same time declare him of different ages, when by exchanging sides each changed his opinion, and the horse proved by the common rule to be coming a year older on one side than the other. These doubts in respect to the certainty of age being admitted, one fixed rule is incon* trovertible— " That after the mark (which is the general guide) is obliterated, the longer the teeth are, and 57 the narrower the under jaw is towards its extremity, the more the horse is advanced in years/* There was a cause tried before Lord Kenyon, JDunlop against Waugh, where Dunlop stated, at the time he sold the hOTse, that he knew nothing of his age save from a written pedigree; and his Lordship decided that it could not be construed into warranting him to be of a certain age. But there is no doubt that any express age specified as of the parties' own knowledge would equally amount to an assurance that he was of that precise age, as a general warranty would that he was sound. TEIAL. With respect to the length of time to which a warranty shall extend (or rather, what shall be considered a reasonable time for trying whether the horse answers the warranty given or not), there does not appear to be any general i*uie on the subject ; and indeed it is almost impossible to lay down any thing like one. Judge Blackstone in his Commentaries says, that " a warranty can only reach to things in being at the time of the warranty made, and not to things mfuturo-'-^^, that a horse is sound at the buying D 5 58 ©f him, and not that he will be sound two years hence." This doctrine has since been doubted ; and Lord Mansfield declared, in a case where the above ©pinion was quoted, " that there is no doubt but you may warrant a future event/' However, this is not a very likely case to occur ; for most people, I believe, consider themselves very fortunate if they can warrant their horses fiafely at the time of sale, without diving into futurity. " Trial," say the law books, " means a reason- able trial," leaving us just as much in the dark 3.S ever. We have seen that the warranty must be given at the time of the purchase or sale of the horse, in dorder that it may be considered as part of the conti'act; we have also seen that fraud practised at the time of the sale, whether the horse prove sound or not, will vitiate the contract ; and it has heen expressly laid down by Lord Loughborough, in a cause of Fielder against Starkin — " That no length of time elapsed after a sale will alter the nature of a contract originally false." The following are the particulars of the case :— Starkin sold Fielder a mare, which he [' war* 59 ranted sound, quiet, and free from vice and blemish." Soon after the sale Fielder discovered that she was unsound and vicious ; viz. that she was a roarer, had a thorough-pin, and also a swelled hock from kicking : nevertheless he kept her three months, physicking and using other means to cure her; at the end of which time he sold her, but had her soon after returned as unsound; when he passed her back to Starkin, who refused to receive her. On her way back from Starkin's she died, and upon examination it was the opinion of the veterinary surgeon that she had been unsound a full twelvemonth before her death ; but it did not appear that Fielder had during the three months, tJiough in Starkin's company, ever complained of the mare being unsound. Lord Loughborough said— " Where there is an express warranty, the warranter undertakes that it is true at the time of making it. " If the 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 D 6 60 alter the nature of a contract originally false ; though the not giving notice will be a strong presumption against the buyer that the horse at the time of the sale had not the defect complained of, and will make the proof on his part more difficult." I think it stands to reason that a person having purchased a horse under a warranty of soundness, or indeed any other warrant}', on finding that he does not answer that warranty, and intending to return him, is bound to lose no time in doing so ; though what will be considered a reasonable time must necessarily depend upon the particular circumstances of the case. There is a cause of Adams against Richards, where Richards sold Adams a horse, with an agreement to take him back if he should be found faulty. Adams kept him six months after he discovered that he was restive, and he was not allowed to recover. But whenever the horse is returned he must not be in a worse condition than when sold. Curtis against Hannay is a case in point, and was decided by the late Lord Chancellor Eldon when Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. Hannay had sold Curtis a horse, which he war-. 61 ranted generally ; and after the sale Curtis was informed that he had a defect in his eyes, but nevertheless he kept liim for nearly seven weeks, in which time, suspecting the horse to have some defect in his feet, he had applied certain remedies, which produced a running thrush and a consider* able degree of lameness: it was, however, only tenrporary; and it was in evidence that the remedies applied to the feet could not have affected the eye. Lord Eldon said— " The question was, would the horse when returned to the seller be diminished in value by this doctoring ?' And he delivered the following opinion :— " I take it to be clear law that if a person purchases a horse which is warranted, and it afterwards turns out that the horse was unsound at the time of the warranty, the buyer may, if he pleases, keep the horse, and brmg an action on the warranty, in which he will 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 warranty : or, " He may return the horse and bring an action to recover the full money paid : but in the latter case the seller has a right to expect that the horse shall be returned to him in the same state he was when sold, and not by any means diminished in value : for if a person keeps a warranted artjicle 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 immediately after such discovery, I think 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 difference in the value of the article warranted, and its value when sold." In Ellis against Mortimer the action was brought to recover thirty guineas, the price of a horse sold by plaintiff to defendant upon an agreement for a month's trial, and to be at liberty to return him at the end of the month if he did not like him. After keeping him about a fortnight, he said he liked the horse but not the price, upon which the plaintiff desired him, if he did not like the price, tc return the horse: the defendant kept him ten days after this, and then sent him back within the month, but the plaintiff refused to receive him. The Court held that the effect of the con* tract was that the defendant should haxe to the end of the month to decide, and that he had not determined the contract until he liad actually re- «8 turned the horse, and that the action could not therefore be supported. Where a seller allows a trial, accidents may hap- pen diu'ing the time, and yet no general ride can be laid down : each of these cases must therefore depend entirely upon their OAvn merits. For instance, if a person rides a horse on trial with hounds " wliich is warranted an excellent hunter and in good hunting condition," and the horse dies in consequence of his exertions in the field ; yet unless it be proved that he rode him un- fairly, contrary to his usual custom, or pressed him after he was exhausted, I take it the owner could not recover. Circumstances may also occur to prevent a trial whether a horse answers his warranty, as in the case of one " warranted a good hunter." Now were a frost to come the day after he was purchased, and it was to continue for several weeks, whereby the purchaser was prevented from trying his qualities as a hunter, still he ought not to be precluded from returning it, if on the breaking of the frost he was not found to answer the warranty. In warranting a horse a " good hunter," I be- lieve the warranty is generally considered to refer to his fencing ; and though he may be as slow as possible, yet if he is a good leaper, the warranty 64 will be answered : not so, where he is warranted " a good hunter and fast." RETURNING. Difficulty often arises in returning horses when discovered to be unsound, particularly when they have been purchased of dealers. It is advisable in all cases to make an offer of the horse, because on that being done and refused, the purchaser will have a right to recover damages for the expenses of his keep in addition to the price paid. However, it can always rest in the option of the purchaser whether he will return him or not. If the horse is returned (and presuming he is not in worse condition or state than when sold) the purchaser will have a right to recover the price paid for him. If he is not returned, the purchaser will have a right to recover the difference between his value and the price given ; or if sold to a third person, the difference between the price received for him and tlie one paid in the first instance. In the case of Caswell against Coai'e, where the action was brought on the breach of the warranty, but where there was no proof of the horse having been offered back, Lord INIansfield said— m " The contract being broken, the defendant must give back the money, and the plaintiff must return the horse ; but unless he has previously tendered him he cannot recover for the keep, because it was not the defendant's fault that the plaintiff kept him." I must, however, add, that the law upon this point is not decided. In the trial at the Summer Assizes at Bristol, in 182G, of M'Kenzie against Hancocl-, Mr. Justice Littledale said— " Notwithstanding a contrary opinion prevails, I think the plaintiff is entitled to recover the ex- penses for such a period only, as luider all the cir- cumstances of the case the Jury may fairly think a reasonable time for re-selling the horse." This opinion seems open to objection, because the purchaser would naturally get rid of the horse as soon as possible without much regard to price ; and the defendant would frequently lose much more by the sale than by persisting in his obsti- nacy in not taking the horse back and paying his expenses. Besides it opens a door to endless litigation. CHAP. IV. There are one or two points relating to horses, which, though not of common occurrence, it still may be as well to know'. DEALING ON SUNDAY Is one. All dealings and contracts which are made on a Sunday by persons in their ordinary calling are declared void by the Stat. 29 Charles II, c. T, s. 2, and, independent of the illegality of the Act, dealing on that day is not a very respect- able occupation : however, if the person w^ho buys or sells on a Sunday is not thereby following his ordinary calling, the law will not set aside the contract. Lord INIansfield said, in the case of Dnny against Defontaiiie, where an objection was made that the contract for sale took place on a Sunday — " The bargaining and selling horses on a Sun- day is certainly a very indecent thing, and what no religious person >vould do ; but we cannot discover 67 that the law has gone so far as to say that every contract made on a Sunday shall be void, although under these penal Statutes, if any man in the exercise of his ordinary calling shall make a con« tract on a Sunday, that contract would be void." And again, in Bloxsome against Williams, where Bloxsome made a bargain with Williams, who was a horse-dealer (but of which fact he was ignorant at the time), for a horse on a Sunday, which was warranted, but proved unsound, it was held by IMr. Justice Bailey, that Bloxsome having no know- ledge that Williams was a horse-dealer, and exer- cising his ordinary calling on a Sunday, had not been guilty of any breach of the law, and there- fore entitled to recover back the price of the horse on the action for the breach of the warranty. In Fennell against Ridler, it was laid downi that the Statute I before mentioned " for the bet- ter observation of the Lord's Day" applies to pri- vate as well as public conduct ; and that a horse- dealer cannot maintain an action upon a private contract for the sale and warranty of a horse if made on a Sunday. SELLING HORSES BY SERVANTS OR AGENTS Is 1-ather a dangerous business ; and sellers ought to be very cautious what instructions they give ; and the best way is to reduce them into writing, so that they can be shewn to the purchaser, which will prevent the alteration or modification of the terms by the servant. The Judges ai'e inclined to infer that a servant being employed to sell a horse has an implied authority to warrant him. By private contract this perhaps is good, because it is generally supposed that horses sold by this means are sound, and will bear scrutinizing ; but, were the rule to be extended to" sales by auction, great injustice might be done. In the case of Alexander against Gihsmi, where the action was brought upon a warranty given by Gibson's servant, Lord Ellenborough said— *' If the servant was authorised to sell the horse^ and to receive the stipvdated price, I think he was incidentally avithorised to give a warranty of sound- ness. It is now most usual on the sale of horses to require a wai'ranty, and the agent who is em- ployed to sell, when he warrants the horse may fairly be presumed to be acting within the scope of his authority. This is the common and usual manner in which the business is done, and the agent must be taken to be vested with power to 69 transact the business with which he is intrusted in the common and usual manner. " I am of opinion, therefore, that if the de- fendant's servant warranted this horse to be sound, the defendant is bound by the warranty." INIr. Justice Bailey, in a subsequent case, went farther than Lord Ellenborough, and said, in TicJcering against Busk — " If the servant of a horse-dealer, w*ith express directions not to warrant, does warrant, the master is bound, because the servant, having a general authority to sell, is in a condition to warrant, and the master has not notified to the world that the general authority is circumscribed." However, in an analogous case of Fenn against Harrison, where the above opinions were quoted— Lord Kenyon doubted the propriety of a mas« ter's being bound by his servant's warranty, and said he thought the maxim of " respondeat supe- rior" applied. In Hclyear against Hawkc, Lord Ellenborough said— " I think the master having intrusted the ser- vant to sell, he is intrusted to do all that he can to effectuate the sale; and if he does exceed his authority in so doing, he binds his master." The circumstances of the case were these. The horse had been mserted in Tattersali's cata- logue, but was not brought to the hammer, and Helyeai- afterwards, having the catalogue in his hand, inquired of Hawke's groom, who had the care of the horse, if the horse was but seven years old, and if free from vice; to which the latter re- plied " Yes, if you have him." And upon an objection to this evidence being received to bind the master. Lord Ellenborough said— " If the servant is sent with the horse by his master, and the horse is offered for sale, I think he thereby becomes the accredited agent of his master, and what he has said at the time of sale, as part of the transaction of selling, respecting the horse, is evidence ; but an acknowledgment to that effect made at another time is not so: it must be confined to the time of the actual sale, when he was acting for his master." It afterwards appeared that nothing had been said about the price; and his Lordship was of opi- nion that it could not be deemed a complete con- tract for the sale of the horse, and would not support a warrant}' at all. However, who shall decide when Judges dis-» agree? therefore I arrive at my old position; viz. that the best way is to write down the instructions 71 if the master either cannot, or does not choose to be referred to; but in the latter case, perhaps Messrs. Tattersall's public auction would answer his purpose better than running any risks. LIVERY STABLES. In a trial before Lord Wynford (when Chief Justice of the Common Pleas), of Wallace against Woodgate, the law relative to a livery- stable* keeper's lien upon the horses standing in his stables for the expenses of their keep was laid down. Woodgate was a horse-dealer, and had sold Wallace three horses, and taken his bills of ex- change in payment. As well as being a horse-dealer Woodgate kept a livery-stable, into which (out of the sale stable) he removed the horses in question ; but there was no evidence to shew that there was an}^ agreement made that they shoidd remain there until their keep was paid for. Wallace was in the habit of using the horses whilst they were kept by Woodgate, and one day, under pretence of using them, took them entirely away to another stable. Woodgate, finding out where they had been re- moved to, in the absence of Wallace repossessed 72 himself of them, upon "which Wallace brought his action ; and the defence was that Woodgate had a right to retain the horses until the keep was paid for, he having a lien by agreement. The Chief Justice, in summing iq:>, told the Jury that a livery-stable-keeper had not by law a lien for the keep of horses, unless by special agree- ment with the owner of them ; and that if they were satisfied that there was an agreement to that effect, and that Wallace had removed the horses to defraud Woodgate of his lien, then their verdict must be for Woodgate, which they accordingly gave. An innkeeper, who is ohliged to take a horse in to stand at livery, though neither the owner nor his servant lodge in the house, is therefore entitled by law to detain the horse until satisfied for his keep: and if he be stolen the innkeeper is liable to an action for his value. With certain exceptions in favour of trade, the general rule of law is, that all things upon the pre- mises are liable to the landlord's distress for rent, whether they belong to the tenant or a stranger. Consequently all horses standing at livery are liable to be seized for the landlord's rent. In London this frequently happens : it is there- fore desirable, where a doubt may exist as to the 73 solvency of the parties, either to inquire of the landlord if the rent be in arrear, or to examine the receipts in the possession of the tenant. RESALE BY A PURCHASER, WITH A WARRANTY^ Where a purchaser, relying upon his warranty^ sells the horse to another, giving a similar war* ranty to the one he received, and upon its failing an action is brought against him, and he gives notice of such failure and action to the original seller, who gives no direction for defending cr abandoning the cause, the costs sustained thereby will be added to the amomit of the original damage accrued by reason of the false warranty, and the second seller will be entitled to recover the sum from the original vendor. It must, however, be proved that the horse was- unsound at the time of the first sale. S3IITHS. Where a horse is delivered to a smith to shoe^ and he injures him, an action can be brought. So^ if he delivers him to another smith, the owner may have his action against the latter. And it is said that an action lies for not shoeing according tc? 74 promise if the horse is injured from the want thereof. VETERINARY SURGEONS. Formerly it was understood^ if a veterinary surgeon undertook to cure a horse of any malady, and through negligence or unskilful treatment he died or was injured, that the owner could recover the value of the horse in an action against the sur- geon without proving any express agreement, on the ground that whoever undertakes a duty is bound to exercise proper and competent skill in. his occupation. This doctrine, I am informed by Professor Coleman, was reversed in an action wherein he was a witness, and bore testimony to gross mis-; management on the part of a veterinary surgeon ; notwithstanding which the Jury, under the direc- tion of the Judge, returned a verdict for the de- fendant. 75 CHAP. V. SALES BY AUCTION. As the Judges have gradually become more strict in their constructions of general warranties of soundness, and qualified ones do not answer the pvirpose of sellers as they necessarily diminish the prices obtained; sales by public auction (where the doctrine of " caveat emptor'—^'' let the buyer beware" — well applies) have gained ground. While they embrace all the advantages of sales by private contract, they get rid of the difficulty of being obliged to specify all defects, and more* over the time that shall be considered a reasonable trial is more accurately defined. The owner of a good horse has the same advan* tage of warranting him sound as he has on a sale by private contract, without incurring the risk of having him returned at the end of five or six weeks, or perhaps as many months (unless indeed it can be proved that the cause of the breach of warranty existed at the time of the sale), while the E 2 less fortunate owner of a bad horse puts liim up for public competition, and though he may expa- tiate as largely as ever he likes upon his good points, still (if he does not warrant him) he is not bound to mention any of his imperfections. There is a species of praise which all sellers are considered at liberty to adopt in disposing of their goods. In common parlance it is called puffing, and when practised in the selling of horses is termed '' chaunting/' oi* singing their praise. The rule of the civil law was " simplex commeu' Hatio non obligat." And w^here the seller merely made use of those expressions which are usual to sellers who praise at random the goods they are desirous to dispose of, tlie buyer, who ought not to have relied upon such vague expressions, could not procure the sale to be dissolved upon any such pretext. The same rule j^revails in our laAv, and has re- ceived a very lax construction in favour of sellers. Unless " chaunting" be coupled with fraud or more particular terms of warranty, the words which are made use of cannot be considered other- wise than as of unmeaning import, and cannot be made the foundation of an action. Though puffing or chaunting is sometimes prac- 77 tised in dealers' yards, it is more generally consi* dered to be the attribute of sales by auction, where a knot of persons getting together continue to praise a horse in the hearing of a stranger, who is thereby perhaps induced to become the purchaser. If a seller affirms that his horse is of a certain value, it is deemed to be the purchaser's own folly if he believes him, and it turns out to be untrue ; besides, value consists in judgment and estima- tion, in which many men differ. As sales by auction have gradually advanced in public estimation, so likewise the number of com-* petitors for public favour have increased, and sales of horses by auction are to be found in all parts of the metropolis, from the aristocratic yard of the Messrs. Tattersall at Hyde Park Corner to the humble yet useful establishment of IMr. Dixon in the Barbican, not forgetting the princely Bazaar of IMr. George Young in King-street, Portman- square. As all these establishments are conducted pretty much on the same principle, and the conditions of sale are nearly, if not exactly, the same, I shall only insert those of Messrs. Tattersall and Mr. Young. E 3 75 CONDITIONS Of every Sale by Auction and Private Contract at Hyde Park Corner. 1. The highest bidder to be the purchaser ; and if any dispute arise between any two or more bidders, the lot so disputed shall be imme- diately put up again, and re-sold. 2. No person to advance less than 5s. ; above 51. 10s., and so on in proportion, 3. The purchasers to give in their names and place of abode (if required), and to pay down five shillings in the pound (if required), as earnest and in part payment ; in default of which the lot so purchased may be imme- diately put up again and re-sold, if the auctioneer shall think fit. 4^ The lots to be taken away within one day after the sale is ended at the buyer's expense, and the remainder of the purchase money to be absolutely paid before the delivery of the lot. 5. Upon failure of complying with the above con* ditions, the money deposited in part of pay*- ment shall be forfeited to the owner of the lot, he paying thereout all just expenses ; 79 and the lot shall be re-sold by public auction or private sale, and the deficiency (if any) attending such re- sale shall be immediately made good by the defaulter at this sale. 6. If any person shall purchase a lot, and not pay for it in the time limited by the 4th condi^ tion, nothing contained in the 5th condi- tion shall prevent the auctioneer or owner of the lot from compelling the purchaser to pay for it, if the auctioneer or seller shall think fit. 7. The vendor shall be entitled to receive the pur« chase money of each lot not warranted sound on the third day from the sale day ; and all horses sold as sound on the Mon^ day shall be paid for on the Friday ; and all horses sold as sound on the Thursday shall be paid for on the Tuesday, provided the auctioneer shall have received the pur- chase money, or delivered the lot out of his custody, but not before. 8. The purchaser of any lot warranted sound, who shall conceive the same to be unsound, shall return the same on or before the evening of the second day from the sale: otherwise the same shall be deemed sound, and the E 4 80 purchaser obliged to keep the lot with all faults. ©. The King's Tax shall be paid by the seller. 10. All horses and carriages, &c. brought to this Repository for sale, and sold by private contract, either by iMessrs. Tattersall or the owner, or any one acting as the agent for the owner of such horses, carriages, &c. shall pay the usual commission ; and no person shall have a right to take away his horses, carriages, &c. until the com- mission, keep, or other expenses are paid, whether the same have been sold by public auction or private contract, or are not sold. U. All horses, carriages. Sec. advertised by Messrs. Tattersall (though not upon the premises at the time of sale), either by pri- vate contract or public auction, shall pay the usual commission. X^astly. The conditions of sale are— If sold by public auction, 2s. in the pound. If by private contract. Is. in the pound. And if not sold, 3s. for putting up. 2i!. B. No money paid without a written order. The IVIonday sales continue throughout the year, AUd at particular times (generally about the height 81 of the London season) there is also a sale on Thursdays ; though tliis day^ except for large and well-known studs, does not answer so well. For the Monday's sale it is necessary that the horses should be sent on the preceding Friday, or Saturday morning at latest, for the catalogues are printed on the latter day : and at the time of sending, the horses must be entered in the book kept in the office for that purpose at the right hand side of the yard, and such pedigree or other de* scription given as the owner wishes to have in- serted in the catalogue. The casual observer would consider one stable as good as another ; but persons acquainted with the yard say, that at INIessrs. Tattersall's (where the company for the most part consists of fashion- able men who seldom rise till noon) it is a matter of no small importance to secure a favora* ble position in the list. The second seven-stall stable I believe is consi- dered a fair one, but the favorites are the twelve and eight- stalled ones. Horses in the second seven-stall stable come out about three o'clock in the afternoon, the first lot in it generally being betAveen thirty or forty in the catalogue (depending upon whether the horses in boxes are brought out first or not) : then comes E 5 82 the twelve, and after it the eight-stall stable, which brings the day on to about four o'clock in the afternoon, when there is generally the fullest at- tendance in the yard. All people, however, cannot get their horses into these stables ; and such as cannot had better put them either into the large stable, the back fourteen- staD, or the boxes. The great thing to avoid is, having the horses brought out before the buyers aiTive. The best way is to bespeak stalls, and rather to defer sending the horses for a week or two sooner than have them put into bad stables. For the Thursday's sale they should be sent in on the Tuesday : but for whichever day stalls are engaged, care must be taken that the horses are sent in on those I have named, otherwise it will be presumed that they are not coming, and the stalls given up to some one else. All that has been here said respecting sales t>y auction at Messrs. Tattersall's Repository, is equally applicable to those at IMr. Young's Ba- zaar, except so far as the same may be altered by the printed conditions of sale, and by whicii all persons are bound. At IMr. Young's there is a greater quantity of stabling, and horses need not to be sent in until the day preceding the sale : for instance, a horse sent there on a Friday morning -will be in time for the Saturday's sale, though an earlier day might secure a better place in the catalogue. The Bazaar itself is of immense extent, and admirably arranged ; of which perhaps I cannot give a better description than by inserting one of the prospectuses. BAZAAR, Ki72g Street, and Baker Street, Portman Square, rOPw THE SALE OF HORSES, CARRIAGES, AND FUR- NITURE, BY C03rMI5SION. For Horses and Carriages by Auction every Tues* day and Saturday ; and for Saddlery, Harness, and iMiscellaneous Articles, daily. Regulations for the Sale of H or sea by Commission. George Young humbly begs leave to submit the following Regulations for the Sale of Horses by commission in this establishment, which covers upwards of two acres of ground, and contains e6 84 £&r\y four hundred stalls, and good exercising grounds, all inclosed by high walls. 1. Horses will be taken in for sale every day (Sundays excepted), from nine o'clock in the morning until eight in the evening during summer, and until dark in the win- ter, after having passed the examination of the Veterinary Surgeon, in order to guard against the introduction of contagious dis- ease. 2. The premises will be open for general busi- ness only during these hours, within which horses may be tried or taken away. 3. A commission of 5 per cent, will be charged on the amount of all sales. 4. The price for forage, Sec. will be that ordi- narily charged in the same neighbourhood from time to time, and each horse will have an hour's walking exercise every day. 5. Horses sent as carriage horses may be seen in harness, and tried a short distance out of the Bazaar ; but saddle horses will not be allowed to go out, unless by the express permission of the owner, as the space within is sufficiently '^extensive and conve- nient for trial and exercise. 85 6. Studs of horses will be received with their grooms; but such grooms must, if re- quired, comply with the regulations laid down for the servants of the Bazaar. 7. An able veterinary surgeon, assistants, and smiths, will be constantly looking over the stables; careful, experienced head grooms and stablemen selected ; and a watchman kept up all night, to guard as much pos- sible against accidents, particularly those arising from horses getting cast in their stalls. 8. Great attention will be paid to horses' feet, which is of the utmost importance while they are out of work. 9. All horses purchased must be paid for pre- viously to delivery ; and persons failing to make payment within two days after the purchase will become liable either to an action at law by the owner, or to a disso- lution of the contract, at his (the owner's) option. 10. Should any horse be warranted and prove unsound, he must be returned within the second day after the sale (not including the day of sale), and within the prescribed hours of that day. It must, however, be distinctly understood^ that this period only applies to George Young's liability, the law being open against the owners after that date, as in all other cases of warranty, and that all liability on the part of the agent will cease at the period he binds himself to pay over the amount of sales to the owners. 11. In all disputes which may arise respecting purchases and sales, where the law leaves it at the option of the parties either to bring or defend actions in the name of the agents or the principals, no action will be brought or defended by the agent, or in his name ; but the action and defence must be brought and made by the parties themselves, and in their own names ; thereby leaving the agent, what he ought to be in the transac- tion, the witness, to prove the facts in dis- pute. 12. When a horse, having been warranted sound, shall be returned within the prescribed period on account of unsoundness, a cer« tiiicate from a veterinary surgeon, par- ticularly describing the unsoundness, must accompany the horse so returned; when, if it be agreed to by the veterinary sur- «7 geon of the establishment, the amount received for the horse shall be imme- diately paid back ; but if the veterinary surgeon of the establishment should not confirm the certificate, then, in order to avoid farther dispute, one of the veterinary- surgeons of the College shall be called in, and his decision shall be final ; and the expense of such umpire shall be borne by the party In error. 13. If any horse, warranted quiet in harness or quiet to ride, or Avarranted in any other respect (except as to soundness), shall be returned within the prescribed period, as not answering the waiTanty given with him at the time of sale, he shall be tried and examined within the Bazaar by an impartial person, approved of by George Young, whose decision shall be final; and the consideration for the examination, viz. 10s., shall be paid by the party in error. 14. The proprietors of horses sold may receive the amount of sales (if received from the piu:- chasers), deducting for keep, commission, &c. on the fourth day after the sale ; but no liability is to attach to George Young, in the event either of an offer or an agree* S8 ment to purchase not being subsequently carried into effect. 15. The keep, &c. Sec. of horses that may be taken away unsold must be paid for before de- livery. J6. When the keep and other expenses upon any horses sent in for sale shall amount to a larger sum, with reference to their value, than George Young should deem expe- dient, he shall, at the expiration of ten days after the sending of a written notice to the owner or o^aiers, addressed by post, agreeably to the register made at the time the horse or horses were sent in for sale, be at liberty to sell and dispose of the same, either by public or private contract, placing the proceeds to the credit of the parties, and paying over to them the balance, if any remain, after deducting all charges for keep, commission on sale, &c. &c. 17. George Young will not deal in horses, either directly or indirectly, but will conduct himself most strictly as an agent ; nor will any servant be allowed to deal, or to ask for any perquisite. 18. No charge for adverti$ements wiU be made for any horse or stud, except especially directed to be advertised. 19. All risk from fire, &c. will attach to the owners of the horses. Regulations for the Sale of Horses by Auction. 1. A sale by auction will take place every Tues- day and Saturday, and will commence precisely at twelve o'clock at noon. 2. The charges for commission will be five per cent. 3. Catalogues will be made out every jMonday and Friday, describing such horses as are to be put up for sale, together with the number which may be affixed to each horse on his entering the Bazaar, and the nume- rical order in which he will be brought out for sale. 4. The description of the horses given in the catalogue will be the only one by which the horses are put up for sale by auction ; it will therefore have no reference what^ ever to that on the tin (which relates only to the horse on sale by commission) ; and every horse intended for sale by auction must be in the Bazaar at least one day before the 90 day of sale, in order to be inserted in the catalogue of the next day's sale. 5. A deposit of 10/. per cent, must, if demanded, be paid on each lot at the time of purchase, and the remainder before delivery on the same day ; but should the purchase-money not be made good during the day, the deposit will be forfeited, leaving the ©"wiier at liberty to dissolve tlie contract, or to re-sell the horse, either privately or by auction, "witli or without giving notice to the purchaser, who will be debtor to the owner for any difference or loss w^hich may arise out of the non-fulfilment of the con- tract, including connnission on the re-sale^ keep, and all other charges whatever. 6. See Clause 10 of the " Regulations for Sale by Commission." 7. See Clause 11. a See Clause 12. a See Clause 13. 10. See Clause 14. 11. Three shillings will be charged on each horse put up for sale by auction, for advertise- ments, catalogues, &c., but an additional charge will be made if specially advei*- tised. m. 12. The keep, &c. &c. of horses taken away un- sold must be paid for before delivery. 13. The price of forage will be the same as may from time to time be charged in the Bazaar for horses sold on commission. The care, attention, feeding, and exercise, will also be the same. 14. Should any dispute arise at the sale between the bidders, the lot on which such dispute shall arise will be put up again. 15. No bidding less than 10*. 6(L on sums under fifty guineas, nor less than one guinea on sums above fifty guineas, will be accepted, and the highest bidder will be the pur- chaser. 16. All risk from fire, &c. will attach to the owners of the horses. 17. See Clause 16 of the '' Regulations for Sale by Commission." *^* Stock will be valued or sold by auction, on the premises of the owners, upon moderate terms. Monet/ Advanced on Horses on the follow big Cofiditions. 1. That the amount of loans made shall be in proportion to the value of the horses, sub* 92 ject to George Young's determination ; and that the interest on the same shall com- mence at the rate of 5/. per cent, per annum on the day on which the money is ad- vanced. 2. That if the amount borrowed be not repaid, together with all the ordinary charges for interest, keep, &c. &c. within the period inserted in the receipt given to the bor- rower at the time of his depositing the horse or horses upon which the loan is made, George Young shall then be at liberty, w^ith or without notice, to sell and dispose of such horse or horses, either by public auction or by private sale, and to place the proceeds at the credit of the account of the party borrowing ; when, after charging the same with 5/. per cent, commission on the sale, interest at the rate of 5/. per cent, per annum, and the other accustomed charges, he shall pay over the balance, if any remain, in favour of the borrower. 3. That if, on the contrary, any balance should remain due to George Young, the same must be immediately paid to him on de- mand ; or in default thereof, that interest thereon shall commence at the rate of 51. m per cent, per annum, from the day of sale, on which day the balance will be consi* dered due to George Young. 4. That the horses upon which money is so advanced shall in no case be taken out of the Bazaar, until the amount of the loan, with interest, be paid, as well as the keep, and all other charges upon them, up to the day of removal. George Young takes leave finally to add, that, as the horses are kept in the best possible condition at a very great expense in procuring forage of the first quality, and in employing the best veterinary aid and the most careful grooms, additional advantages are offered to the public ; which will, he trusts, ensure him the high reputation (which it shall ever be his earnest endeavour to maintain) of his establishment being the fairest, the safest, and the most extensive market for the purchase and sale of horses. In support of these observations, he begs particularly to refer to Clauses 3, 7, 12, and 13, of " Regulations for the Sale of Horses by Commission," and to state generally, that the whole of the foregoing regulations have been framed with the greatest care, and the most anxious desire to prevent legal disputes, and to avoid the great expense usually attendant upon them, as well 94 as to render the strictest justice, by affording equal protection both to the buyers and the sellers. For the sale of carriages and furniture by commission and by auction, and of saddlery and harness, &c., see also printed Regulations. The horse department is more a place for sale by commission or private contract than by public auction ; and there are always a great number of iiseful horses to be found, the price of which, and other particulars, can be ascertained by referring from the number of the stall to a list exhibited in each stable. With respect to the instructions given to the auctioneers as to the price for which they are to sell a horse, a very nice distinction has been made; viz. That an action does not lie against an auctioneer for selling a horse at the highest price bid for him, contrary to the owner's express directions not to let him go under a larger sum named. Though it would had the seller desired the auctioneer to put the horse up at a certain sura, say 1001. This is the law, which it is as well to know ; though, to give the auctioneers all due credit, I believe they are much too careful of the property % 95 entrusted to their disposal to make it likely to occur again. However, the cas^ was tried in an action of Bexivell against Christie ; speaking of which Mr. Espinasse, in his Treatise on the Law of Nisi Prius, says-^ " It was resolved in this case that when a person sends an article to an auction which adverm tizes to sell to the highest bidder, with orders not to have it sold under such a price, an action will not lie against the auctioneer if he sells it at a price less than that so mentioned, as such dealings are a fraud on buyers, who suppose the lot is to be knocked down to the best real bidder; but it is otherwise had he ordered it not to be set up under such a price." If the owner does not object to selling his horse by private contract, he can state the price at the time of entering him in the auctioneer's books ; and as by this means the five pounds per cent, auction duty will be saved^ he may perhaps diminish the price in proportion ; he can also state w hether he purports warranting him or not. The horse, whether sold at Messrs. Tattersall's, J\lr. Young's, or elsewhere, being duly entered, comes to the hammer according to his number in the list; when, if the owuier wishes to warrant 96 him, he must tell the auctioneer, if he has not already done so on entering him. The best way of doing this (and also of giving xmy farther instructions) is by writing, and handing them to the auctioneer when it comes to the horse's turn — for a short lapse of time takes place between the putting up of each lot ; he then has -an opportunity of reading them : but the writer must bear in mind that " Brevity is the soul of wit." The difference between the number of horses sold at the hammer under warranty, in proportion to those that are sold without, is so very great, that, at Messrs. Tatter sail's particularly, waiTanty is the exception and not the general rule; conse- quently they never insert in the catalogues whether the horses to be sold are warranted or not; and unless Messrs. Tattersall state that they are to be warranted, the inference is that the owner does not intend they should, and that the purchaser is to take them at all risks and with all faults. When the horse comes to the hammei*, the auctioneer reads from the catalogue or written instructions what the owner has to say respecting it ; as for instance — *' This, Gentlemen, is Lot 49-—^ chesnut mare by Windle; dam Minerva by Walnut; grandam 97 Sister to Beningbrough by King Fergus : she is seven years old and warranted sounds and has been regularly hunted with His jMajesty's stag- hounds during the last season. Will any Gentle- man give two hundred guineas for her? One hundred and eighty guineas ? One hundred and fifty guineas ?" And so he goes down to^, and sometimes below, the price which the horse is to be sold for. If he gets below the sum, and there is no bidding, he perhaps assumes one, and endeavours to work it up to, or past, tiie lowest price fixed ; and a person not knowing this might fancy he had sold his horse, while in fact the auctioneer has only been bidding against himself. This manner of conducting sales is a mixture of a Dutch auction and an English one. A Dutch auction is when the thing is put up at a high price, and if nobody accept the offer a lower is named; and so the sum first required is gra- dually decreased till some person close with the offer. Thus there is of necessity only one bidding —a mode which in this country would attract few bidders. IVIessrs. Tattarsall's sale cormnences in the same manner as a Dutch auction ; but when any per- son actually bids, then others may advance on that p bidding, and the highest bidder is declared the purchaser, just as if the sale had been conducted in the usual "vvay. A good deal of difference of opinion has existed respecting the owner's right to bid for his horse at the hammer. The case I before mentioned, of Bexn-ell against Christie, turned upon the fact of the horse being advertised to be sold to the highest bidder, and the Judges refused to view the seller in the light of a bidder at all, though the Legislature, in subsequent statutes, seems to have been of a dif- ferent opinion, and even to have sanctioned such proceedings. In the case of Howard against Castle, when the piu'chaser was the only real bidder. Lord Kenyon held, that, luiless it were publicly known that the owner intended to bid, it was a fraud upon the purchaser, and consequently no action would lie against him for non-performance of his agreement. Lord Rosslyn, in a subsequent case of ConoUij against Parsons, said he fancied the case of Howard and Castle turned on the circumstance that there was only one real bidder, and the person refused instantly, and his Lordship said — '' He felt vast difficulty to compass the rea- soning that a person does not follow his own judg- 99 ment because other persons bid, that the judgment of one person is to be deluded and influenced by the judgnaent of others." Upon the whole, however, it seems to be clearly settled that a sale cannot be supported where the purchaser was the only real bidder, and public notice was not given of the owner's intention to bid ; but that public notice is not essential to the validity of a sale if there be a contest between real bidders ofter the biddings on the part of the owner have ceased. And it is conceived, that if there were real bidders at the sale it would be supported, although the bidding immediately preceding that of the purchaser was fictitious. Where public notice has been given, the sale will be binding on the purchaser although there was no contest bet"vveen real bidders, but only the pur- chaser and the person employed to bid bid against each other. If, however, the particulars, er adver« tisement, or even the auctioneer, state (as is frequently the case) that the horse is to be sold nnthoid reserve, it seems clear that the sale would be void against the purchaser if any person were employed as a puifer and actually bid at the sale. I cannot say that I agree with Lord Rosslyn, that the bidding of one man has not its influence on the conduct of another. F 2 100 If I see a person who I know to be a good judge of a horse examining one particularly, and I after- wards find him bidding for the horse at the hammer, I naturally conclude that he is worth looking after, and I perhaps bid a few pounds more than I otherwise intended merely on the strength of this circumstance : though I admit that this sort of influence is more predominant at horse sales than sales where the object of competition may be land, houses, or other goods, with which all persons are more or less conversant, and have better opportunities of becoming acquainted with the particulars. We will now proceed to consider the horse as having been at the hammer, and either sold to a real purchaser, or bought in by the auctioneer or the owner's bidding. If sold to a purchaser, the clause No. 3 of Messrs. Tattersall's, and No. 5 of JMr. Young's conditions, may be enforced if the auctioneer is unacquainted with the party, else he enters his name in the book as the purchaser ; and on going to the office and paying th« money he receives an order in this form .—Deliver lot 49 — which enables him to take the horse away immediately. The price to be paid is the price bid at the hammer (for instance, one hundred guineas for one 101 hundred guineas bid, the biddings being in guineas), the seller paying the auction duty, cora^ mission, and whatever is due for the horse's keep. The seller is done for the day ; and, on the day- mentioned in the seventh of Messrs. Tattersall's and fourteenth of IMr. Young's conditions of sale, may either go himself or send a person with a -^mtten order to receive the money, which will be paid, deducting five pounds per cent, for auction duty, five pounds per cent, for commission, and three shillings and sixpence a night for the horse's keep. The o'v\Tier, however, need not despair of selling his horse because he sees him return from the hammer without having reached the price he is put in at. The dealers in the yards are very sagacious and inquisitive, and soon learn what horses are really for sale, and what are merely sent in to assist in the selling of others; and it not unfrequently happens that they make overtures through the grooms for the purchase of the horse before he goes vip to the hammer. As they will take care not to offer what they know the horse to be worth, should there be other purchasers in the yard, I believe the mode most recommended is to let the horse take his turn at the hammer, and run the chance of meeting with a F 3 102 person who wants a horse for use, and who can afford to give more than a dealer, who calculates the profit to be realised on a re-sale, and not the services of the animal. It not unfrequently happens that dealers are sent to purchase horses for gentlemen. These are what are called guinea-men — their nominal fee being a guinea on each purchase; but the real one is just what they can manage to make by the bargain. These men are a great nuisance, inasmuch as they prevent gentlemen dealing together ; and they have a most peculiar knack of depreciating the value of a horse in the hands of a seller, and exm tolling the same to a purchaser. Dealers should always be the dernier ressorf / and there are very few horses that are not worth a something to some one of the trade ; but the seller must exercise his own discretion, regulated by the properties of the animal to whom he offers it. -Mere hacks are easily disposed of to dealers, especially those about or above fifteen hands and a half high ; but a man would not take a hunter to iMr. Dixon's, in the Barbican, any more than he would a thorough-bred horse to iMr. -Morris's, in St. ]Martin's-lane. These public sales are the central point for dealers : and if one of them has bid for a horse at 103 the hammer, he is always sure to come to the owner afterwards to treat for him. Where they have a purchaser in view, some of them will treat very fairly ; but there is nothing like relying upon Mr. Taplin's advice, and dealing with an honest man as one w^ould with a rogue; and there is no fear of their forgetting to remind the seller that by disposing of his horse by private contract he will save the five per cent, auction duty. This will enable the owner to sell the horse a few pounds cheaper ; and most people, when they are dissatisfied with their horses, w ill sooner part with them at almost any price than keep them; and to such this may be a convenient mode : but I advise them on no account whatever to warrant a horse to a dealer. The want of it will not affect its value at all ; because dealers are far too sharp to be imposed upon by gentlemen ; and if a horse has any in* jury or infirmity about him, they will not fail to discover and point it out, and also rely upon it for a reduction of price : and even if he is perfectly sound, there are some who would not scruple to make him otherwise, and return him on the breach of war- ranty if they found he did not answer their purpose. If the bargain be closed with a dealer or any P 4 104 other person, the seller must go to the office and transfer the horse into the name of the pur- chaser ; and on sending to the office, in like manner as on a sale by auction, he will receive his money, deducting the commission of five per cent, and the expenses as before mentioned. The paying the agent five per cent, for doing what the owner has done himself may appear an anomaly ; but the fact is, that the charge is made for guarantying the payment of the money, and not for the mere trouble of offering the horse for sale. Should the horse not be sold either at the ham- mer or by contract, a charge of three shillings is made for putting him up. I have already stated that it is not the usual custom on sales by auction to warrant the horses sound. Looking through any of Messrs. Tattersall or Mr. Young's lists, it will be seen that the descrip- tion of their qualifications are frequently given in this manner — " A grey gelding, quiet to ride and quiet in harness :" — " a black pony, rides and draws :"— or, '^ a brown gelding, a good roadster and been in harness.'* These I consider to be an assurance that the horses will do what is specified : and therefore, if I 105 buy a horse with the description of the grey gelding, and find that he cither is not quiet to ride, or will not go in harness, I am entitled to return him on the breach of that warranty within the period specified in the condition. By Messrs. Tattersall's eighth condition of sale it will be seen that the purcliaser of any lot war- ranted sound, who shall conceive the same to be unsound, shall return the horse on or before the evening of the second day from the sale, otherwise he is to be deemed sound, and the purchaser obliged to keep the lot with all faults. Thus, therefore, if I purchase a horse on iMon* day's sale under a warranty of soundness, of course I use all expedition in ascertaining the con-ectness of it ; and, if I find any thing the matter with the horse, I return him on or before the Wednesday evening : and so, on a Thursday's sale, I return him on or before the Saturday evening. Messrs. Tattersall's conditions do not mention any warranty other than that of soundness ; but I consider that, if the horse does not answer the warranty as to riding or drawing quietly, he is equally returnable at the time mentioned in the eighth condition. Mr. Young is more specific in his conditions, and No. 13 is made especially to meet the case, F 5 106 CHAP. VI. Ws will now consider the case of a horse which has been sold by auction under a war- ranty of soundness. Although by the conditions of sale the pur- chaser is bound to return the horse if not found to answer the warranty by a certain day from the sale, after which he is held to be retained, at the risk of the buyer, as to all after-accidents ; yet it does not follow, because he has not been able to discover a latent defect or infirmity within such period, that he is not to be allowed to return a horse as unsound which will perhaps be useless in a week. As Lord Loughborough said, in the before- mentioned case of Fielder against Starkin-^ " Ko length of time elapsed after a sale will alter the nature of a contract originallij false.'* And by what code of reasoning shall we adopt this doctrine with respect to sales by private con* 107 tracts and reject it as applicable to sales by public auction ? It is, therefore, clear that the buyer can return a horse bought under a warranty of soundness at a public auction at any reasonable, not to say inde- finite period, provided he can prove the existence of disease or lameness at the time the purchase was made. Were this principle not admitted, the word warranty woidd become a mere dead letter as applied to sales by public auction, and little or no distinction would exist between a horse purchased with or without one; for though the generality of disorders or infirmities are such as are apparent to the general observer (at least can always be discovered before the expiration of the time aU lowed for trial), yet not even a professional man can be certain of the non-existence of latent disease. It is, therefore, clear that the same law which ap- pertains to Vvarranty on sales by private contract is equally applicable to warranty made on sales by public auction. With respect to the age of a horse sold by- public auction, it has been held that where a horse was warranted six years old and sound (and one of the conditions of sale was that the f6 108 purchaser of any warranted horse, who should conceive the same to be unsound, should return him within two days, otherwise he should be deemed sound), the vendor was liable to have him returned after the expiration of the second day, shovJd he prove more than the age specified. This was in a case of Buchanan against Paru' shaw, and Lord Kenyon said — " The question turns upon the meaning of this condition of sale, and I am of opinion that it must be confined solely to the circumstance of soundness. '^ There is good sense in making such a condi- tion at public sales, because, notwithstanding all the care that can be taken, many accidents may happen to the horse between the time of sale and the time when he may be returned, if no time were limited ; but the circumstance of age is not open to the same difficulty." AUCTIONEERS. The conditions of sale being publicly exhibited, either on the auctioneer's box or in the office, but generally in both, it is presumed that all persons attending the sale are conversant with the terms upon which business is transacted, and the law implies a tacit consent on their parts to conform 109 to these terms ; and Lord Kenyon said, in a case of Mesnard against Aldridge the auctioneer, where Mesnard brought the action on Aldridge refusing to receive a horse as unsound after the lapse of a second day, that the action could not be supported, and the plaintiff was nonsuited. All the further law which it seems necessary for our purpose to know respecting auctioneers is, that they are liable to the seller for the amount of his goods, if he lets them out of his possession without receiving the price of them from the pur- chaser, which was laid down in an action of Brown against Staton. Auctioneers have long been the privileged dealers in flowery metaphors and exaggerated de- scriptions, but the thing is now carried to such a height as to call loudly for the interference of the Legislature. We have all heard of the advertisements of an estate for sale commanding an extensive view over hill and dale, having the landscape varied by a beautiful " hanging wood," and which, on the purchaser's taking possession of the house, proved to be a gallows. This may be a true story or not ; but I can- vouch for the truth of a person having been in- duced to bid ten thousand pounds for an estate. 110 merely because the auctioneer stated it to be worth twenty thousand pounds; and when it was knocked down to him, he said he only bid to give the thing a start, and the actual value was only four thou- sand pounds. Whatever an auctioneer states verbally, relative to the value or advantages of an estate, oi* anything else, I think should be looked upon as mere verbiage, but I would confine them within some bounds in their printed descriptions. Formerly it was a proof of the truth of any thing, however improbable, if it were in print. Allegory itself became real the moment it came forth in type, and a mere supposition in manu- script issued w-ith the dignity of history from the press. The March of Intellect has in a manner super- seded this doctrine : but there are still many per- sons who pin their faith to the printer, and are deceived by the specious advertisements of the auctioneers. It is not of their verbal or printed puffs that I complain so much, as of the statements they make with the appearance of truth. For instance : at a sale of pictures, if I see one stated in the catalogue to be by Vandyke, I may fairly suppose it to be the production of that Ill painter ; and yet it appears, by some evidence given in the Court of Chancery very lately, in a cause of Huygh V. Gray, that among picture-dealers the mere adding the name of an artist is only consi- dered to imply that the picture is a copy from one of his, but that the word " warranted" conveyed an assurance that the picture was an original by the master specified. The same way with horses. Some auctioneers do not hesitate to insert in their catalogue, as ex- cellent or superior hunters, horses which have never been in the field, or to give any other de- scription equally fallacious. Others again insert horses in their catalogue as the property of persons to whom they never belonged. An action was tried very lately at Oxford, where this had been done. It was brought by 3f;\ Taunton, a solicitor, against Adams, an auctioneer. The circumstances of the case were these : — The defendant, an auctioneer at Oxford, was employed by i\Ir. Sadler, a well-known livery- litable keeper there, to dispose of his stud of horses by auction, as he was about to retire from business. The plaintiff attended the sale, and the defendant having represented all the horses as the genuine property of Mr. Sadler, he was induced to bid for one of them, a bay gelding, and became the pur- 112 chaser of it at forty-one guineas. A day or two after he had got the animal home, he discovered that it was lame ; and on making inquiries, ascer- tained that it had never, in fact, belonged to INIr. Sadler, but was the property of his brother-in-law, a Mr. Beechy, for whom it had been introduced into the sale along with Mr. Sadler's horses. The lameness was pronounced to be of such a descrip- tion as to be incurable ; and the plaintiff therefore brought the present action, by which he sought to recover back the money he had paid for the horse, together with the sum it had cost him for its keep, and the veterinary surgeon's bill, amounting al- together to sixty-two pounds thirteen shillings. IMr. Taunton and IMr. Chilton conducted the plaintiff's case. The foregoing facts having been given in evidence — Mr. Serjeant Russell (with whom was Mr. Tal- fourd) addressed the Jury for the defendant. The Learned Serjeant, after submitting that the action was not maintainable, went on to contend that no deceit had beenpractisedby the defendant ; nothing, he observed, was more common in sales by auction than to have some goods of another person put into the catalogue. Mr. Justice Bosanquet : And perhaps nothing can be more improper. Mr. Serjeant Russell : The horses which the de- 113 fendant had sold were represented as belonging to a livery-stable keeper at Oxford— a place, as ad<* mitted by INIr. Sadler himself, most unlikely to find a good horse in; for they were generally ridden by young gentlemen of the University, who had only one pace, and that was as hard as they could go. The plaintiff had hoped to get a good bar« gain, and it had turned out a bad one ; but the defendant had practised no deceit, and made no wilful misrepresentation. Mr. J. Bosanquet left it to the Jury to say whe- ther or not there had been such a misrepresentation by the defendant as induced the plaintiff' to bid more for the horse than he would otherwise have done. If they thought that there was, they would find for the plaintiif for such sum as they thought he would have given less than the forty- one guineas which he bid under the defendant's representation. The Jury found for the plaintiff — damages twenty-eight pounds. With respect to the best place for disposing of horses, I believe it is generally considered that a real good one is more likely to meet with a pur- chaser at jMessrs. Tattersall's than at any other Repository, this being the resort of sportsmen and gentlemen of fortune from all parts of the kingdom ; and that sometimes an indifferent horse 114 -will bring a large price if the owner is known—* many people being kind enough to attach to the horse what is in reality the attribute of the rider ; but for selling middling-priced horses, Mr. Young's Bazaar, by uniting the properties of a good livery- stable, with the advantages of a weekly auction on the spot, and the opportunity of selfing by private contract every day, possesses advantages which iVIessrs. Tattersall's Repository does not. The extent of Messrs. T.'s stables not being equal to the number of horses sent, the owner of one who fails to sell him on the IMonday cannot rely upon being able to keep him there until the following IMonday, or even the Thursday's sale; but the immense range of stabling at the Bazaar renders any difficulty of this sort very unlikely to happen. At either place the men in the yard will pay every attention to horses who have not grooms sent with them. As to purchasers at sales by public auction, I believe a buyer with a fair knowledge of horses is considered to be in a much better situation than any seller ; but for a person to go to an auction without any ideas on the subject, or previous ac- quaintance with the horses, and thinking every person blind except himself, is the height of ab- surdity. 115 JMany of the owners of horses sent to public auctions are persons whom fortune has placed in such a situation that the difference of price ob- tained by selling their horses with warranties and without them is of no importance, and many would prefer giving them away to running the risk of having them returned at a subsequent period as unsound. Mr. Richard Wilson (a gentleman well kno^\^^ both in the legal and sporting world), at his annual sales, expressly states in the catalogue, that " no warranty is given ;" and the Earl of Jersey and many other Noblemen and Gentlemen adopt the same rule. It must not, however, be supposed that because these persons apparently carry things with a high hand that they part with valuable horses without receiving a fair consideration. Doubtless a great number of good horses are sent or put into auction with which the owners have no objection to part provided they obtain their price; but the number of horses really for sale at a reasonable price bear a very small propor- tion to the number which are onl}^ to be sold on exorbitant terms. Noblemen as well as commoners, and rich men 116 as well as poor^ frequently have bad horses^ and then what are they to do with them ? To sell them to their friends would not add much to their character and respectability ; and to hawk them among strangers would be beneath their dignity: consequently, at certain times of the year, the owner and stud-groom make their selec- tion of all faulty horses, and either have an auction on the premises, or send them off to a public re- pository, accompanied perhaps by thi'ee or four of the best ones in the stable to add weight and im- portance to the stud. This is what they call " weeding" the stable, and a very proper term it is too ; and horses drafted in this manner form no inconsiderable portion of the valuable studs of Noblemen and Gentlemen which are sold at repositories and elsewhere. All horses belonging to men of fortune have names, some both christian and surnames, which are always speciously inserted in the catalogue, though perhaps only christened on coming into the yard, but the grooms think it gives them an air of consequence ; therefore we find the IMarquis, Sir Harry, Mary Ann, Mountaineer by Pioneer, and no end of pedigrees. Supposing IMary Ann (speaking in the language J17 of the stable) to be a decided screw, the groom will very likely arrange the horses so as to bring the Marquis and Sir Harry (both excellent horses) out first, and after letting them be oiFered at all prices from three hundred guineas down to thirty, and perhaps bought in at forty, I\Iary Ann will make her appearance, and after being put up at one or two hundred guineas, will run back in the Dutch fashion to thirty-five guineas, or perhaps less. Well, some innocent bystander may think her very cheap, or perhaps will bid for fun, never dreaming that a two hundred guineas mare like ^lary Ann, with such a pedigree, and " the pro- perty of a Nobleman," will be sold at any thing xmder that price ; or he may think to give the thing a fillip by offering the last sum named, thirty- guineas, and is not a little astonished when the auctioneers knock her down to his bidding, per- haps complimenting him at the same time by say- ing that she is " given away.'* The pleasing delusion and a " pretty horse" will most likely be all he will get for his money; for, ten to one, on taking his purchase away, he will dis- cover that she is either broken winded, or just about to lose her eye sight, or has some other va- luable quality. 118 It is the case (though it will not avail him mucb to know it when once the fatal blow is struck) that his bidding may be retracted at any time before the lot is actually knocked down (unless the con- ditions expressly stipulate against it), because the assent of both parties is necessary to make the con- tract binding, which is signified on the part of the seller by knocking down the hammer. Therefore it behoves the bidder to make the best use of the few moments allowed him, and if he thinks he has done a foolish act, let him remember that the next most foolish thing he can do is to persist in it : so let him say, '^ I retract my bid- ding" before the hammer is down, and the by- standers will think him a much more sensible man than if he allowed a useless horse to be forced upon him. The studs of Noblemen and Gentlemen " giving up hunting," I believe, are not considered quite so dangerous to speculate in as those " the propertj- of Noblemen :" for this reason, that it is generally known what hounds are given up ; and hence the truth of the statement is more easily ascertained. *' But here," as a Gentleman said when looking at a horse a friend had just purchased out of a Nobleman's stud which was sold under these circumstances — 119 '' I dare say your horse is very cheap ; but it does not follow that because my Lord — ^ has given up hunting that his friends have done the same; and you may depend upon it they would not let good horses go for nothing at the hammer.". This is a very true observation, and not a bad one to bear in mind when attending sales of this description. Altogether I believe it is generally allowed by persons conversant with horse-dealing, that those who know nothing about horses, if they must purchase their knowledge, had better buy it at the cheapest rate ; and that sales by private contract, where a reasonable trial is allowed, afford much better opportunities of becoming acquainted with the necessary requisites for a good horse, than those by public auction, where the place of trial and inspection is a small and crowded yard. In conclusion, I may state, that these pages were not written for the benefit of persons who consider all sorts of knavery and deception in horse-dealing not only allowable but commend- able ; but they were written for the protection of inexperienced men, who daily fall into the snares of the artful and designing : and though, from the paucity of established authorities, I have not been able to enter so fully upon the subject as it 120 requires ; yet if what I have written should tend to guard the unwary against fraud, my purpose is fully answered. So now, like my superiors on the Bench, having gone through what evidence there is, I shall sum up with the opinion of Lord Ellenborough— " That any vifirmity which renders a horse less Jit for present service, or any malady which renders him less serviceable for apertnanency, are unsoundness:'* And the dicta of Lord Loughborough— •' That no length of time elapsed after a sale will alter the nature of a contract originally false :" — And finish by saying (though contrary to my own interest), that I advise no man to go to law who can avoid it ; yet sooner than be made the dupe of designing blacklegs, I would run the risk; and the result of my own experience has been, that (rather than appear as a defendant in a Court of Justice) a horse-dealer will submit to almost any terms, unless indeed he feels himself fortified with the MEXS CONSCIA RECTI. 121 A I) D E X D A. THE ROYAL VETERIXAIXY COLLEGE. I CANNOT oiuit mentioning an establishment that I subscribe to, but which is by no means so generally known as its public utility and national importance entitles it to be : I mean the Royal Veterinary College at Camden Town, in ^Middlesex. The prospectus states— That tlie extreme ignorance and incompetency of the greater part of the practitioners on the diseases of liorses, called farriers, had been long and universally complained of. To remedy which, and meet the evil in the most effectual manner, several Gentlemen formed tliemselves into a Society for the Improvement of the Veterinary Art. A large^'piece of ground was provided, and a range of stables, a forge, a theatre for dissection and lectures, and other buildings were erected, at a considerable expense. A medical gentleman of superior abilities was appointed Professor ; G 1« and other officers requisite to give clue effect to the Establishment \N'ere fixed at the College, at an expense large in the aggregate, but at salaries not individually greater than were consonant to the sti-ictest rules of economy. That the grand object of the Institution has been, and is_, to form a School of ^"eterinary Science, in which the anatomical structure of quadrupeds of all kinds, horses, cattle, sheep, dogs. Sec, the diseases to -which they are subject, and the remedies proper to be applied, may be investigated, and regularly taught ; in order that, by this means, enlightened practitioners of liberal education, whose whole study has been devoted to the veterinary art in all its branches, may be gradually dispersed over the kingdom, on whose skill and experience confidence may be securely placed. For this purpose pupils are admitted at the College, who, in addition to the lectures and instructions of the Professor, and the practice of the stables under his superintendence, at present enjoy (from the liberal disposition of some of the most eminent characters of the faculty to support and protect this Establishment) the peculiar advantage of free admission to their medical and anatomical lectures. Of these pupils many are at this time established in various part? of the coun* 123 try, practising with great credit and advantage to themselves, and benefit to their respective neigh- bourhoods. In order, however, that no doubt may arise respecting the sufficient qualifications of pupils upon their leaving the College, they ate strictly examined by the IMedical Committee, from whom they receive a proper certificate, if they are found to have acquired a sufficient know- ledge in the various branches of veterinary science, and are competent to practise with advantage to the public. That subscribers to the establishment have the privilege of sending to the College their horses, &c. which have occasion for medical treatment of any kind, without farther expense than that of their daily food ; and these, in general, form a sufficient number of patients for the practice of the Professor and his pupils. — The Professor, or assistant, prescribes for horses, &c. belonging to subscribers who find it inconvenient to spare them for admission into the Infirmary, or in cases that do not require it, provided tliat such medicines as are necessary to be furnished are compounded at the College. — Horses are likewise shod at the College forge at the ordinary prices. That in a political point of view, this Institution is of great importance with respect to the army g2 124 (which must be sufficiently manifest to every per- son acquainted an ith the former state of the prac- tice of farriery in the cavahy) ; and so fully was the utilit}' of it estimated, that a Board of General Officers ha\ injr been appointed to take the Institu- tion into consideration, reported, that the loss of horses accruing to the cavalry was heretofore very heavy, owing to tJie total ignorance of those who, previous to the appointment of veterinary sm-^ geons, had the medical care of them ; and tliat thi?; Establishment has afforded essential improvement to that part of the IMilitary Service, and thereby idtimately must be, and has been the means of considerable saving to the public. This report His Majesty was graciously pleased to approve. lU'LKS ANI» KK(iULAT!ONS. E\'ery subscriber of the sum of tAventy guineas is a member of the Society for life. Every subscri})er of two guineas annually, to be paid by a che(juc drawn upon some banker, or mercantile ]iou:>c of fixed residence in London or Westminster, is a member of the Society for one year, and is equally entitled to all benefits of the Institution wliilst he continues such. None but liorses, or animnls the property of 0^6 subscribers, can be admitted into the Infirmary; raid should any patient procure admittance con- trary to this regulation, either by the misrepresen- tation of the servant bringing it, or the mistake of the servant of the College who receives it, and the owner, on application being made to him, shall neglect to entitle himself to tlie privileges of a subscriber, by sending a cheque for his annual subscription, there shall then be charged for medi- cines and attendance, over and above the daily charge for keep, in no case less than two guineas, and more if more shall really have been expended in the treatment of such patient. A receipt is directed to be given to every groom bringing a horse on his admission, and upon it a note of the Regulations, in no case to be departed from, that the horse will not be delivered to the owner, or any person sent by him, till the amount of his keep up to the day of delivery be paid. In cases thought desperate by the Professor, or requiring a time to cure, which in his opinion would incur cost of keep exceeding the value of the animal, he is directed immediately to notify such his opinion to the proprietor, who in that case may choose whether he will, at his own expense, have the animal treated according to known rules of practice, or v>hether he will give him up to the g3 m 126 College, paying the expenses up to the time of j?iich giving up. The animal then becomes a- subject of experiment and bolder practice, which if successful, and the animal be restored to health, ■will still leave the proprietor tlie option of reclaim- ing him, on paj'iug at the usual rate for liis keep from the time of his having given him up to th.^t of his reclaiming him. Every gentleman liaving subject of complaint, either on the medical or stable treatment of his horse, or misconduct in the forge, or of any ser- vants of the College, is reque>ted to comnmnicate the same by letter, addressed either to the Chair- man of the Stable Committee, or of ti;.e next General iMeeting. No servant of the College is alluv»-ed io receive rails, and it is earnestly requested that subscribers ivill abstain from offering any, as conviction of the receipt would subject the servant ^o offending to immediate dismissal. Note. — Though the cure of the diseases incident to horses has always been the primary object of the Institution, it is nevertheless the wish of the Directors to extend its benefits to every description of animals of the brute creation ; and the progress of their views, in this respect, has been retarded solely by the vant of subjects for practice. 127 N. B. Subscription? paid between the first day of January and the last day of June are calculated for a year from the twenty-fiftli of 3Iarch ; and those between the first of July and the end of December, for a year from tlie twenty-ninth of September. PIIIVILEGE> OF .SUBSCIIIBERS. A subscriber has the privilege of having his horses admitted into the Infirmary, to be treated mider all circnmstances of disease at the price of three shillings; per night only, including keep, medicines, or operations of wh.atever nature that may be necessary ; likewise of bringing his horses to the College for tlie advice of the Professor gratis, in ca>es vrhere he may prefer the treatment of tliem at home ; and in cases of accidents, which render the subjects of them not capable of being removed, the Professor, or Iiis assistant, will attend the horses of subscribers at their o^^■n sta- bles, witliin London and ^^'estminster, at the usual charges of private practitioners. A subscriber, though resident in the country, has the privilege of iuiving medicines prepared at the College at an expense so much lower than the ordinary prices of druggists, as will, upon a *arge stable establishment, soon save the amount of subscription, as may appear by the IblloAving CATAI.OGUE OF PRICES. s. d. Purging balls each. Alterative ditto 8 Vermifuge ditto 6 Diuretic ditto 6 Cordial ditto 8 Astringent ditto 9 Tonic balls 7 Febrifuge ditto 9 Blistering ointment 6 per oz. Astringent powder for Thrushes 8 Pitto for Grease 8 Discutient Lotion 9 per qt. THE END. INDEX 4 GE of horses, i j. Advice against i^oiiig to la^v, 1-20. Auction, advantages of sales by, 70« disadvantages, 119. Auction, Dutch, description of a, *^7- Auctioneers, liability of, in certain casts, 94, 100. Bargain void where fraud has been practised, 49. Bill3 of exchange, staiiip duties on, 48. Blackstone's Commentaries, extract frona. 3. Buck eyes, 20. Capped hocks, 24. C'haunting horses, explanation of the term, 76- Clark, Mr. Bracy, on crib-biting, 2t'. Coleman's (Professor) opinion of thrushes, 4-'. Contract or agreement, requisites to make binding, 2. Contracts originally false, no length of time will alter, 08, 106, 120. Copeing, a species of liondon sv/indling. '»!. Cough, 24. Crib-biting, 20. Mv. Vare'* opinion of, 2G. Curbs, 29. Cutting, or interfering, 20. Delivery essential to establish a contract, 6. Disease, hereditary, 30. Dutch auction, description of a, 97- EUenborough (Lord), his defiaition of soundness, 10, 120. Espinasse's Lav/ of Nisi Prius. extract from, relative to sales by auction. 9o. ■^ ^ 130 Field'g (Mr.) opinion on the cause of roaring, 36. Fraud annuls a bargain, 49, 08. Frauds, Statute of, extract from the, 2. Hereditary disease, 30. High.blowing and roaring, difference between, 38. Horse, sold by auction under a warranty of soundness, consi- derations on the case of a, 106. Horse Bazaar, regulations for the sale of horses and carriages at the, 83. advantages peculiar to the, 114. Horse-dealers always reluctant to appear as defendants in a Court of Justice, 120. Horses, the age of, 55. when sold by auction, 10/. remarks and advice relative to returning, 64. selling by agents or servants, 67. standing at livery, liable to be seized for landlord's rent, 72. instructions to the owners of, «old by auction, 96. Jnnkeepers may detain horses for keep, 72. liable to action for value of horses, if stolen, 72. Inspection of horses by veterinary surgeons to decide on their soundness, a prevalent system in London, 12. Lameness, temporary, 39. Law, advice against going to, 120. Liability of auctioneers, 95. Livery stables, keepers of, have no lien for the keep of horses, 71 Lord's day, Act for the better observation of the, 66. Jjoughborough's (Lord) doctrine — no length of time elapsed after a sale will alter the nature of a contract originally false, 58, 106, 120. 3Iansfield's (Lord) opinion on Sunday dealing, 66. blasters bound to fulfil warranty given by servants, 68. Mayor's (Mr.) definition of the term soundness, 9. his opinion of curbs, 29. of cutting, 30. on roaring, 38. of splei>ts, 38. of thrushes, 42. Mouth not to be depended upon as regards age, 55. ■Nerving, an operation invented by Mr. Sewell, 33. 131 Owner's -light to bid, difference of opinion respecting; 95, 99i Purchaser, re-sale by a, with a warranty, 73. Qualified warranty, 11. Quidding, 35. Eeceipt, form of^ recommended, 47. Receipts, stamp duties on, 48. Remarks and observations on the conditions of sale at ^Messrs. Tattersall's and at the Horse Bazaar, 100. Returning horses, remarks and advice relative to, 64. Roaring, 36. ^ Running thrushes, 41. Sales by auction, 75. Selwyn's law of Nisi Prius, extract from, regarding warranty and soundness, 16, 17- Sewell, Mr., inventor of nerving, 33. Soundness, Mr. Taplin's opinion regarding, 7* Mr. Mayor's definition of the term, 9. decided by veterinary surgeons on inspection, 12. Smiths liable for injury in shoeing, 73. Splents, 38. Stables, descriptions of Messrs. Tattersall's, 81. Statute of Frauds, extract from the, 2. String halt, 39. Sunday, dealing on, when illegal, 66. Taplin's (Mr. ) opinion regarding soundness, 7. of thrushes, 41. of the age of a horse, 55. general advice to purchasers, 8, 103. Tattersall's (Messrs.) conditions of sale by auction and private contract at the establishment of, 78. their system of sell- ing by, described, 96. their Rooms the resort of men of fortune, 113. the best mart for disposing of really good horses, ib. Teeth, a deceptive mode of ascertaining the ag« of a horse hj his, 55. Temporary lameness, 39. .132 Thorough-pin, 41. Thrush, 41. Trial — length of time to wliich a warriiuty will extend, o7. ■Veterinary College, grand objects of the, 121. rules and regu- lations of the, 124. privileges of suhscribers (o the, 127. prices of medicine at the, 128. Veterinary surgeons, on the responsibility of, 74. Vice, 44. Warranty, general and qualitied, derinition of, 1, U. an agree- :7:ient stamp not necessary to prove, !♦>. by servant binding on master. *'A\. re-sale by a purchaser, with a, 73. A^eavers, 42. Weeding a stable, explanation of the term, 116. • White's Farriery, extract from, respecting crib-biting, 20. Wind-suckerp, 43. Yare, Mr., his opinion of crib-biters, 28. ERRATUM. P. 19, line 11^ for implicit read ir.-iplied. Printed by :^I. A. Pittman, W6rwick.Sfiuo,rt^ Jjondon. r> -•'.i*