DISEASES, DEFECTS, ETC, 93 



to prove that the lameness was of a temporary nature, and 

 that the Horse had afterwards recovered, since which he 

 had been perfectly sound : however. Lord Ellenborough 

 said, " I have always held and now hold, that a warranty 

 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. While a Horse has a 

 Cough I say he is Unsound, although that may either be 

 temporary or may prove mortal. The Horse in question 

 having been lame at the time of sale, when he was war- 

 ranted to be sound, his condition subsequently is no defence 

 to the action" (/). And in another case, on the trial of an 

 action on the warranty of a Horse where the evidence was 

 very contradictory, but a witness of the defendant's ad- 

 mitted that he had bandaged one of the fore legs of the 

 Horse, but not the other, because the one was weaker than 

 the other. Lord Ellenborough said, " To constitute Un- 

 soundness, it is not essential that the infirmity should be of 

 a permanent nature ; it is sufficient if it render the animal 

 for the time unfit for service : as, for instance, a Cough, 

 which for the present renders it less useful, and may ulti- 

 mately prove fatal. Any infirmity which renders a Horse 

 less fit for present use and convenience is Unsoundness'^ {ni). 

 In a previous case it was said to have been held that a 

 warranty that a Horse is sound, is not false because the 

 Horse labours under a temporary injury from an accident 

 at the time the defendant warranted it sound. But the 

 waiTanty there appears to have been a qualified one, 

 because when bargaining the plaintiff observed, that the 

 Mare went rather lame on one leg. The defendant re- 

 plied, that it had been occasioned by her taking up a nail 

 at the Farrier's, and, except as to that lameness, she was 

 perfectly sound (»). 



Lnminitis is an inflammation of the LcnnincB of the Laminitis. 

 feet, namely, of the connecting medium between the 

 cofiin bone and the interior of the hoof, there being nu- 

 merous fleshy plates which support the foot. The coronary 

 ring is contracted, the soles become convex, the Horse puts 

 his heels to the ground first and goes short, and lameness 

 ensues, Laminitis is such an alteration in structure as is 

 without doubt Unsoundness (o), 



(?) Eltony. Broffden,4: Ca.m-p. 281, («) Garment v. Sars, 2 Esp. 673. 



(»») Elton V. Jordan, 1 Stark. [o) See IfaU v. Rogerson, Appen- 



N. P. C. 127. dix ; Smart v. Allison, Appendix. 



