2 WARRANTY OF 



motives of prudence, to decline warranting even those 

 that are sound. I shall also show when a horse 

 should not be rejected because he is unsound, and 

 why, frequently, a sound horse should be avoided. 



The late Professor Coleman whose name will 

 ever rank high amongst all true lovers of the 

 horse, for the service he has rendered to his profes- 

 sion, as well as for liis kind and gentlemanly conduct 

 and his sound sense used to say, " any deviation from 

 nature is an unsoundness." The opinions of most 

 writers, since his time, embrace the same doctrine. 

 To differ from the learned professor altogether would 

 be presumptuous ; although, I think, whilst he put his 

 meaning into short and quaint language that it might 

 be easily understood, he calculated upon its receiving a 

 liberal construction. Still, however, the professor con- 

 sidered the above definition of unsoundness a neat and 

 concise explanation of a difficult subject. 



The exceptions may not be very numerous with 

 regard to strict soundness, but there may, nevertheless, 

 be many deviations from nature which, instead of im- 

 peding the animal functions, are of great service in 

 adapting domesticated animals to the artificial state in 

 which they have to live. Let us take an illustration. 

 The hands of the artisan and labourer, rendered coarse 

 and hard by his daily avocations, must be considered a 

 deviation from nature ; but a man with delicate hands, 

 who occasionally goes boating, is aware, from the blisters 



