SOUNDNESS, 25 



is certain that the warranty is broken." This rule will apply to 

 spavin, or to curb, or to windgall^ or, in fact, to any other defect 

 " visible at the time of sale." For all warranties can only under- 

 take for the animal's qualifications at the time of sale: none can 

 extend to any subsequent period unless there be a special clause 

 " to delwer the horse free from blemish," and that delivery be by 

 mutual ao^reement delaved*. 



The form in which a receipt including warranty is generally 

 written is — 



" Received, the 16th of July, 1845, of A. B., Esquire, the 

 sum of Ninety Pounds, for a grey gelding (stallion or mare) war- 

 ranted sound, and quiet to ride and to drive." 



Or " Warranted free from vice and blemish, except ." 



Or "Warranted in every respect, except ." 



Or '' Warranted to have been constantly driven both in single 

 and double harness, to have carried a lady, to have been regularly 

 hunted, to be a good hunter or hackney, &c. &c." 



Following the word " except" there being every opportunity 

 afforded the (honest) vender of stating what he may know inva- 

 lidating the warranty, and thereby saving his reputation as well 

 as screening himself from the probability of litigation afterwards. 



"With respect to what (oral) declarations of the seller will 

 amount to a warranty, the primary rule for the interpretation of 

 contracts in general is applicable. It depends upon the intention 

 of the parties. A simple affirmation of the goodness of an article 

 is a warranty, provided it (a warranty) apjjear to have been in- 

 tended : whereas, the sublimest epithets that seller ever employed 

 to recommend his goods to a credulous buyer will be regarded as 

 the idle phraseology of the market, unless an intention to warrant 

 actually appear." In fine, " it is from the intention of the parties, 

 as collected from the whole transaction, and from the meaning they 

 appear to have attached to particular expressions, that the exist- 

 ence or non-existence of a warranty is to be inferred t." 



" Let us now consider how the rights of the parties are affected 

 by the horse being unsound at the time of the warranty. The 



* Tomlin's Law Dictionary, 1S3S. 

 t Law Magazine for October, 1S38. 

 VOL. \\ E 



