THE SKIN AND ITS DISEASES. 369 



period, he cannot be returned afterwards. Tliey are also convenient to 

 the purchaser, who can thus in a large town soon find a horse that will 

 suit him, and which, from this restriction as to the returning- the animal, 

 he will obtain twenty or thirty per cent, below the dealer's prices. 

 Although an auction may seem to offer a fair open competition, there is 

 no place at which it is more necessary for a person not much accustomed 

 to horses to take with him an experienced friend, and when there to 

 depend on his own judgment or that of his friend, heedless of the observa- 

 tions or manoeuvres of the by-standers, the exaggerated commendations 

 of some horses, and the thousand faults found with others. There are 

 always numerous groups of low dealers, copers, and chaunters, whose 

 business it is to delude and deceive. 



The principal repositories in London, are Tattersall's, at Hyde Park 

 Corner, on Monday and Thursday, at one o'clock, for racers, hunters, 

 and superior horses of every kind, although many that are good for 

 nothing find their way there. — Young's, at the Bazaar in King Street, 

 Portman Square, on Tuesday and Saturday, at twelve o'clock, for horses 

 of every description ; and where, likewise, horses are always standing 

 for private sale. — Dixon's, in Barbican, for machlners of every kind, 

 and generally the best of them, with occasionally good hackneys ; 

 and Morris's, in St. Martin's Lane, for draught horses and hackneys 

 of every grade and value. Horses should be sent two days before 

 the sale ; and it should be so contrived, if possible, that they should 

 be placed about or beyond the middle of the catalogue ; so that 

 they may be brought out when those persons who lie abed until 

 after noon, begin to appear. If the horses are bought in, the owner 

 will have to pay Ss. 6d. per night for their keep, and 6s. for the offering 

 them for sale : if they are sold, he will be charged with five per cent, 

 for the auction-duty, five per cent, for commission, and the keep ; and the 

 balance may be received the day after the period of trial expires. 



One of the regulations at the Bazaar is exceedingly fair, both with 

 regard to the previous owner and the purchaser : viz. 



' When a horse, having been warranted sound, shall be returned 

 within the prescribed period, on account of unsoundness, a certificate 

 from a veterinary surgeon, particularly describing the unsoundness, must 

 accompany the horse so returned ; when, if it be agreed to by the veteri- 

 nary surgeon of the establishment, the amount received for the horse 

 shall be immediately paid back ; but if the veterinary surgeon of the 

 establishment should not confirm the certificate, then, in order to avoid 

 further dispute, one of the veterinary surgeons of the college shall be 

 called in, and his decision shall be final, and the expense of such umpire 

 shall be borne by the party in error.' 



Chapter XXL 

 THE SKIN AND ITS DISEASES. 



The skin of the horse differs little in construction from that of other ani- 

 mals. It consists of three parts, the cuticle or scarf-skin externally — very 

 thin, and somewhat transparent, as is proved by the action of a blister 

 when the cuticle is raised from the true skin beneath, in the form of 

 almost pellucid bladders. The dandriff or scurf, which is brushed out in 

 grooming, consists of scales or portions of the cuticle detached in the gra- 

 dual change or renewal of this membrane. The parts within the frame 



2B 



