Ivi 



INTRODUCTION. 



Veterinary 

 Certificates. 



Veterinary 

 Opinion. 



a year, and very few of wlioni can form a reasonable 

 opinion as to a Horse's value. But the Dealer, to say 

 the least, is a pretty good judge, and, being well ac- 

 quainted with the routine of his business, may, generally, 

 go on in as satisfactory and reputable a manner as any 

 other tradesman, so long as he keeps honest. The fre- 

 quent Rascality in Horsedealing transactions arises from 

 parties making improper use of that superior knowledge 

 which experience alone can supply. Because purchasing 

 a Horse is a very different affair from buying a manu- 

 factured article ; for, in the latter case, there are certain 

 trade prices, and a corresponding quality of goods, which 

 every man expects, and of which any ordinary man can 

 judge ; and, therefore, as each party has in general a 

 sufficiently competent knowledge, very few disputes arise. 



When a Horse is free from hereditarij disease, is in the 

 possession of /ris iiafural and constitutional health, and has 

 as much hodihj perfection as is consistent with his natural 

 formation, a Yeterinary Surgeon may safely certify him 

 to be sound. But as there is in most Horses some slight 

 alteration in structure, either from disease, accident, or 

 work, a Veterinary Surgeon in giving his Certificate had 

 much better describe the actual state of the Horse, and 

 the probable consequences, without mentioning so »;;f/« ess or 

 unsoundness at all, and so let the purchaser buy him or not 

 as he may be advised. Because in such a case a straight- 

 forward statement would be made, and a man in the 

 Veterinary profession would not be called upon in an off- 

 hand manner to decide questions which are of the greatest 

 nicety, being full of uncertainty, and upon which no 

 conclusive decision can safely be arrived at. For we find 

 the greater the difficulty, the more likely is a decision 

 (if come to at all) to be the result of a slight prepon- 

 derance of one over each of many conflicting opinions. 



We find that a man will sometimes warrant a Horse in 

 consequence of a Veterinary opinion given in an off-hand 

 manner, either without a sufficient examination of the 



