WARRANTING. 267 



to do it for you, then solicit five minutes for a 

 walk, trot, and canter; in a quarter of an hour 

 let your decision be final : if undisturbed by the 

 owner, this is ample. In England the case is 

 different ; there it is always advisable for an 

 inexperienced person to have a new purchase 

 submitted to a veterinary surgeon besides, for a 

 couple of hours, a day, or two days, as he may 

 think necessary. Half a guinea is all you have 

 to pay, and this, with your own, or your friend's 

 eyes, to boot, is abundance of warranty. Some 

 persons, however, expect too much from a veteri- 

 nary surgeon. A professional man can only tell 

 you of any disease or remains of disease, or fault 

 in the build, which is likely to produce disease 

 or strain. He cannot tell you, merely by look- 

 ing, if a horse is subject to gripes, rheumatism, 

 or inflammation, unless some outward sign or 

 symptom remain. He cannot tell you if a horse 

 has ever been sprained, unless there is enlarge- 

 ment, mark as of blister, or something externally 

 to denote it. He cannot say either if one horse 

 is more liable to become blind, throw out a 

 curb, spavin, or splent, than another, unless 

 there is some visible sign or malformation, or 

 he knows the sire and dam, or grand sire and 

 dam, had these defects ; and then he may say, 



