OF rURCIIASE AND SALK, ETC. 73 



in point of fact, consolidated into one. I li.avo 

 ridden nimiTjcrs of horses in my time, and, as 

 a general rnle, certainly find that young horses 

 possess more elasticity in their movements than 

 old horses ; and this is readily enough accounted 

 for ■\vlicn Avo come to consider the number of 

 animal springs there are in the body, all or most 

 of which become impaired, and some altogether 

 lost in the course of ago and work ; among them, 

 however, I should say those of the splint bones 

 were probably the smallest in importance, and, 

 therefore, would bo the least of all missed. In 

 every horse that has splints this conversion of 

 elastic into osseous union has necessarily taken 

 place ; and, as I have said before, this is also found 

 to be the case in every horse of a certain age, 

 whether ho show splints or not." 



As a rule all horse cases are (as was this case 

 of Mai'f/ct.'ioii V. Wi'ujht) mixed cases of law and 

 of fact, and are most diflicult ones for a jury to 

 determine. Judges do their best to explain the 

 points of law, and leave the facts of the case to 

 the jury, and then, if not quite satisfied with the 

 verdict, are unwilling to distm'b it ; but still many 

 verdicts in horse cases are not satisfactory. A jury 

 is an excellent tribunal to say aye, or no, on certain 

 facts, but when questions have to be left to them, 

 as was done by Baron Vaughan in Margcfsoii v. 

 Wright, the answers of twelve men are not like 

 the decision of a judge. It is hoped that now, 



