84 WHAT DISEASES CONSTITUTE UNSOUNDNESS OR VICE. 



is the same as was formerly held by Lord Ellenborough, 

 and will be seen in the following cases : — A horse, sold 

 warranted sound, was proved to have been lame at the 

 time of sale ; this the defendant admitted, but undertook 

 to prove that the lameness was of a temporary nature, and 

 that the horse had afterwards recovered, since which he had 

 been perfectly sound : however, Lord Ellenborough said, 

 " I have always held and now hold, that a warranty of 

 soundness is broken if the animal at the time of sale had 

 any infirmity upon him, which rendered him less fit for 

 present service. It is not necessary that the disorder should 

 be permanent or incurable. While a horse has a cough I 

 say he is unsound, although that may either be temporary 

 or may prove mortal. The horse in question having been 

 lame at the time of sale, when he was warranted to be 

 sound, his condition subsequently is no defence to the 

 action '" (/). And in another case, on the trial of an action 

 on the warranty of a horse where the evidence was very 

 contradictory, but a witness of the defendant's admitted 

 that he had bandaged one of the fore legs of the horse, but 

 not the other, because the one was weaker than the 

 other. Lord Ellenborough said, "To constitute unsound- 

 ness, it is not essential that the infirmity should be of a 

 permanent nature ; it is sufficient if it render the animal 

 for the time unfit for service : as, for instance, a cough, 

 which for the present renders it less useful, and may ulti- 

 mately prove fatal. Any infirmity which renders a horse 

 less fit for present use and convenience is unsoundness " (m). 

 In a previous case it was said to have been held that a 

 warranty that a horse is sound is not false because the 

 horse labours under a temporary injury from an accident 

 at the time the defendant warranted it sound. But the 

 warranty there appears to have been a qualified one, because 

 when bargaining the plaintiif observed, that the mare went 

 rather lame on one leg. The defendant replied, that it had 

 been occasioned by her taking up a nail at the farrier's, 

 and, except as to that lameness, she was perfectly sound («). 

 Laminitis. Laminitis is an inflammation of the lamimB of the feet, 



namely, of the connecting medium between the coffin bone 

 and the interior of the hoof, there being numerous fleshy 

 plates which support the foot. The coronary ring is con- 

 tracted, the soles become convex, the horse puts his heels 



(1) Elton T. Brogden, 4 Camp. 281. P. C. 127 ; 18 R. R. 754. 



(m) Elton T. Jordan, 1 Stark. N. («) Garment v. Bars, 2 Esp. 673. 



