FOR PEACE AND WAR. 113 



the time during which the professional is exercising his 

 offices upon his behalf. Of course, if the buyer instructs 

 his adviser to examine for legal soundness, he knows his 

 duty. But, where so many really valuable horses for the 

 purpose for which their qualifications and education adapt 

 them are not legally sound, how much more expedient is it 

 for an intending buyer to say to the "Vet.," " I have agreed 

 to purchase this horse for such or such work, have the 

 goodness to look him over, and say is there anything to 

 prevent this animal proving serviceable ? " Look what a 

 lot of useless verbiage and consequent bewilderment in the 

 minds of a majority of buyers this would get rid of ! They 

 do not want to know that a horse has " a sjjeck on his eye," a 

 " slight splent," a " small foot," or " an incipient spavin ; " 

 " has a hoarseness in his breathing," or " makes a whistling 

 noise, and is, consequently, unsound." He may have one, 

 or all those infirmities, and be still worth a lot of money. 

 Get rid of technicalities and legal soundness, and let these 

 questions be dependent upon the opinion of the professional 

 selected by the purchaser to do duty for him. Let the 

 general understanding be that, if such men as Messrs. 

 Mavor, Field, South, Cox, Mr. Stevens, Mr. Williams, and 

 such other respectable London practitioners can say, " I 

 have examined this horse and I think he will, or I think 

 he won't, serviceably discharge the duties for which you 

 propose to buy him," then, I say, let that be final and con- 

 clusive one way or other ! 



Such a course would reduce the now complicated system 

 of buying and selling horses to a very open, fair, and 

 general matter of barter and sale. Would free the breeders 

 from an incubus too heavy for them to bear, as having been 

 notoriously perverted against them by horse-dealers ; and 

 do more to give a stimulus, so desirable, to the breeding 

 and keeping of horse-stock by farmers and country gentle- 



