66 BLINDNESS AND OTHER DISEASES. 



but Deuchars v. Shaw,{a) an authority usually cited in support 

 of the view that these vices constitute unsoundness, only 

 goes the length of deciding that they are sufficient to 

 warrant rejection under a warranty of " freedom from 

 fault." 



Again, splint may, or may not, be unsoundness, according 

 to situation or amount of tenderness. Thus, Lord Chief- 

 Justice Tindal said : — " It now appears that some splints 

 cause lameness, and others not, and that the consequences of 

 a splint cannot be apparent at the time. . . . We, therefore, 

 think that, by the terms of this written warranty, the parties 

 meant that this was not, at that time, a splint which would 

 be the cause of future lameness, and that the jury have 

 found it was. We, therefore, think the warranty was 

 broken." (5) 



String halt was, in one case, found by a jury to be 

 unsoundness, on the direction of Mr. Justice Cresswell that, 

 " if you are satisfied that it is a disease calculated to impair 

 the natural usefulness of the horse, you must find for the 

 plaintiff. " (c) In another case it was proved that, on the 

 buyer observing after the sale that a mare went lame, the 

 seller said she had picked up a nail at the farrier's ; it 

 was held that a temporary injury or hurt, capable of sjDeedy 

 cure, is not necessarily an unsoundness, (c?) 



52. Blindness and other Diseases. — When a warranty is 

 given of " sound in eyesight," or "free from blindness," that, 

 of course, nuist be complied with to the letter ; and blindness, 

 if complete, is a ground for rejection on a warranty of 

 soundness, provided it be undiscoverable by a purchaser who 

 has examined the horse, whether it arise from cataract,(e) 



(a) Deuchars v. Slum, 1833, 11 S. 612. 



(6) Marrjelson v. Wright, 1831, 7 Bing. G03 ; Smith v. O'Bryan, 1864, 11 L.T., 

 N.S. 346 ; see § 39, p. 49. 



(c) Thompson v. Pattcson Liverpool Sum. Ass., 1846, reported at length in 

 Oliphant, p. 105 ; Brand v. Wight, 1813, Hume, 697, case of string halt. 



(d) Garment v. Barrs, 1793, 2 Esp. 673. 



(e) Martin v. Ewart, 1791, Hume, 703. 



