THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



415 



all aouiitl ; he said they were ; thia waa about 11 o'clock. My 

 leasoii for putting this queatiou waa, that Mr. Faton seemed 

 auxiousfor me to take early delivery of them froui hia hands. I 

 afterwards met Mr. Patou, wheu he look me aside and said the 

 first prize bull had a pair of false horus ou. I asked him what 

 the uatural horns were like ; he said they were very good. I 

 asked his reasons for putting on the false horns ; he said the 

 animal waa in the habit of rubbinj his horns against the walls 

 and hedges, and had worn the points off them. I didn't give 

 them up, as it was then, late, and I was afraid I would then 

 get no others to purchase. Paton came to Auchncss on the 

 10th of May, and gave me a deiuction of £10 ou the first 

 prize, and £5 on the third. The first prize bull was taken to 

 Logan— it was this one had the artificial horns ; they were 

 very firmly on. I discovered also that this animal was inflated 

 behind the shoulder ; I observed where the puncture had beeu 

 made ; the hair was off, and it showed a white spot. The ob- 

 ject in blowing is to make the animal look more symmetrical. 

 My own bull was inflated in the hind-quartera in a similar 

 manner to the others. I had a conversation with Paton about 

 the inflation of both bulls. It was after this that he gave the 

 deduction in the price. 



Cross-examined — Mr. Paton told me about the false horns 

 the same day. I did not give up the purchase. I considered 

 myself entitled to give them up, but did not, partly because 

 Paton assured me the bull's own horus were about as good as 

 the others. When I did see the other horns they seemed very 

 fair, and I was reasonably satisfied with them. I wrote to 

 Colonel M'Bouall on the subject, and he agreed to keep the 

 bull. Paton offered to take thera back. The bull has the 

 habit of rubbing his horns oa anything that comes in his way, 

 and they get rubbed down. I never waa aware that any covers 

 were got for them by Colonel M'Douall's manager. The scar 

 where the punctures had been made waa healed up. There 

 was nothing but a little white spot. Colonel M'Douall exhi- 

 bited his bull with his natural horus at the Khins Cattle Show, 

 which I think was held in July — it obtained the first prize. 

 The show at Stranraer was not so good as at Ayr : a number 

 of bulls did not come forward when they knew this one was to 

 be exhibited, as they were apprehensive he would win. 



By the Court — When Paton came to me I think he knew I 

 had written to the secretary at Ayr. It was generally known 

 in Stranraer next day about the artificial horns. It was not 

 known the bull would be exhibited with his natural horns at 

 the Stranraer show; and it was in this state that others were 

 afraid to meet him. 



Thomas Jamieaon, sworn — Was overseer to Col. M'Douall, 

 at Logan Mains. Was at Ayr show, and two bulls were put 

 into my hands by Mr. M'CuUocb. After they were taken 

 home, I saw that the first prize bull had artificial horns. I 

 took them off with a hammer and chisel. There were 

 nicks made in the natural horns to make the gutta-percha 

 stick. I saw two small wounds on each side of the animal's 

 shoulder. 



Cross-examined — The natural horns are fairish, but they are 

 not very like each other. The animal has a habit ofrubbing 

 his horns against everything he comes in contact with. One 

 of them in particular was much worn down. Before the Stran- 

 raer show I got a leather cover made to protect its horns, but 

 the leather was rubbed through in two days, and I had to get 

 it repaired. The bull is a very fine animal; and I heard that 

 some intending competitors did not come forward at Stranraer 

 from fear of it. 



Alexander Wilson, Forehouse, one of the judges of Ayrshire 

 Stock at Ayr show, examined by Mr. Gifford— Gave testimony 

 similar to the other judges relative to the aged bull. If 



there had beeu any cuuBiderable inflation in the twc-ycar-old 

 bulls I think we would have discovered it. 



This fiuibhed the evidence. 



Tlie Advocate-Depute, in addressing the jury for the pro- 

 secution, said this was a very serious charge, and it was made 

 all the more serious by the line of defence taken by his learned 

 frieud. He attempted to show that such frauds were very 

 frequent ; and if this were so, it was time that the arm of the 

 law was brought to bear to put a stop to such practices. An- 

 other remark he would make was, that a deception such as this 

 was very difficult to detect. At these large shows a great 

 number of animala were exhibited, and a very short time could 

 be spent by the judges on the examination of each. It waa, 

 therefore, comparatively easy to impose upon the judges. If 

 the artificial horns had been put ou for no other purpose than 

 to protect the natural horns, it would liave been very easy for 

 Patou to explain this to the judges; but he never did so— he 

 allowed it to appear that they were the natural horns. What 

 the judges might have done had the bulls been in their natural 

 state, it waa impossible— it would be idle to say. They juat 

 judged the bulls as they were before them ; and they were not 

 then in their natural state. He claimed a verdict of guilty. 



Mr. Gifford then addressed the jury for the prisoner. He 

 regretted that this trifling inquiry had been taken up. It surely 

 might have beeu disposed of in a more summary way. He 

 did not think the judtjea of the cattle would thank his learned 

 friend for stating that they had not time to make a proper and 

 minute iuspectiou. Well, the judges, it appeared, had dis- 

 covered that there was something wrong with the aged bull, 

 and he was consequently thrown out altogether. They must, 

 therefore, dismiss that ani.Tial from their consideration. Now, 

 it was natural to think that when the judges had their atten- 

 tion called to the appearance of the aged bull, they would be 

 most carelul and minute in their subsequent inipection, and 

 would have discovered anything that was wrong with any other 

 animal ; but they saw nothing. One of the judges had told 

 them that this " blowing " apoken of was very easily detected. 

 He (Mr. G.) would have liked much to have seen this punctu- 

 ration more clearly specified. They were merely told about a 

 " swelling "; but he supposed swelling was as natural to ani- 

 mals as to humau beings. But supposing it to have been 

 proved— which he held it was not — that this swelling waa pro- 

 duced by puncturation, what was there to connect Mr. Paton 

 with the operation ? There was not a tittle of evidence on 

 this point. The breaking of one link of a chain of evi- 

 dence was sufficient to break down a whole case ; but here 

 there was not a single link in the chain that could stand. Not 

 one of the judges said the prize was given for the horns. One 

 of the judges said he did not know whether it was because of 

 the horns or not that the prize was given ; and this was enough, 

 because the prosecutor was bound to show that if it had not 

 been for the horns the prize would have been given to another 

 animal. The second judge said he would have voted for the 

 same prize with the real horns as with the false ones ; and the 

 third judge gave the same general answer. But more than all 

 this, the prosecutor would have them believe, and it was neces- 

 sary to the supporting of his charge to prove, that these bulls 

 were in reality paltry animals, which would have had no 

 chance of a prize without this blowing and this furnishing with 

 artificial horns ; but the fact of the matter was that the first 

 prize bull, in its natural condition, was such a formidable ani- 

 mal that at the Stranraer Show very few would come forward 

 to meet him. But taking the horns as they were found, what 

 evidence had they here again to connect Mr. Paton with the 

 putting of them on ? It had been proved that the animal had 

 a bad practice of rubbing his horus against walls and hedges, 



