ACTIONS AT LAW. 201 



returning from Beckhampton on the 2nd or 3rd of March, 

 when the spring of the carriage was broken. On the ist 

 of March it ran off the road on to a grass field, and the 

 carriage was shaken a good deal. It was a dangerous horse 

 for a gentleman to use. It was not quiet, either to ride 

 or drive. 



In cross-examination, Mr. Palmer said that he did not 

 know that he ever had a horse that did not shy more or 

 less. It depended, however, a good deal upon its " fresh- 

 ness." He might be getting more nervous in riding than 

 he was when he was younger. He denied having told 

 Mr. CoUett, of Keevil, that the horse went on very well. 

 What he said was that in his short experience of it, he found 

 it to shy a little. He admitted having told Mr. Collett 

 that if the horse turned out as it had been represented to 

 him he should be suited for life. He did not know to 

 whom the horse was sold at Aldridge's. 



Mr. Palmer's evidence was supported by Miss Palmer, 

 his coachman, and by Mr. Strange, after which 



Mr. Broad, veterinary surgeon, of Bath, was called and 

 gave it as his opinion that the horse suffered from cataract 

 in the off eye of at least twelve months' standing. The 

 disease would account for its shying and render it unfit for 

 a gentleman's use. The sum realised at Aldridge's was 

 a fair price. He was not interested in the sale. 



In cross-examination, he denied that all horses shied. 

 He had one that did not do so, even if shut up in the stable 

 for a month. 



Other witnesses were called on behalf of the plaintiff, 

 at the close of whose case Mr. Cole addressed the jury for 

 the defence. The learned counsel ridiculed the idea of the 

 horse being "a confirmed and inveterate shier" at the 

 time of the sale, in face of the fact of its being kept by the 

 plaintiff for ten weeks without a word of complaint. Mr. 

 Cannon had it in his possession for two years and a half. 



