DISEASES, DEFECTS, ETC. 85 



In a later case a Horse was bouglit waiTanted " sound Held to be a 

 and free from vice," and an action was brought against the ■^'^^• 

 vendor on the ground of its being a Crib-hiter and Wind- 

 sucker {>/) . Veterinary Surgeons were examined who said 

 that the habit of Crib-biting was injurious to Horses ; that 

 the air sucked into the stomach of the animal distended it, 

 and impaired its powers of digestion, occasionally to such 

 an extent as greatly to diminish the value of the Horse, 

 and render it incapable of work. Some of the witnesses 

 gave it as their opinion that Crib-biting was an Unsound- 

 ness ; it was not however shown that in the present instance 

 the habit of Crib-biting had brought on any disease, or 

 had, as yet, interfered with the power or usefulness of the 

 Horse. 



Mr. Baron Parke told the Jury, that to constitute Un- 

 soundness there must either be some alteration in the 

 structure of the animal, whereby it is rendered less able 

 to perform its work, or else there must be some disease. 

 Here neither of those facts had been shown. If, how- 

 ever, the Jury thought that at the time of the warranty 

 the Horse had contracted the habit of Crib-biting, he 

 thought that was a Vice, and that the plaintiS would be 

 entitled to a verdict on that head. The habit complained 

 of might not indeed, like some others (for instance, that 

 of kicking (;:), show Vice in the temper of the animal, 

 but it was proved to be a habit decidedly injurious to its 

 health, and tending to impair its usefulness, and came, 

 therefore, in his lordship's opinion, within the meaning 

 of the term Vice, as used on such occasions as the pre- 

 sent [a). And in the case of Paul v. Hardwick, some of 

 the most eminent Veterinary Surgeons gave evidence that 

 Crib-biting was, in their opinion, at all events, a Vice 

 within the meaning of a warranty that a Horse was 

 free from vice, and the plaintiff had a verdict on that 

 ground {b). 



From sudden or over exertion, the ligaments which tie Curb, 

 down the tendons in the neighbourhood of joints may be 

 extended, and inflammation, swelling and lameness may 

 ensue, or the sheaths of the tendons in the neighbourhood 



{y) Windsucker, post. Chitty on Contracts, 11th ed. 429. 



{z) Kicking, post. And see the American cases of 



[a] ScJiolefield v. Eohb, 2 M. & IFaskburu v.Cuddi/uj, 8 Gray, 438; 



Rob. 210. Dean v. Morley, 33 Iowa, 120; 



{b) Paul V. Hardwick, Sittings at Walker v. Ilohmgton, 43 Vt. 608. 

 Westminster, H. T. 1831, MS.; 



