224 Report on the Exhibition of Live Stock at Leeds. 
believe that a certain and necessary stringency in this way must 
eventually result in national good, however much some breeders 
may object to having their horses subjected to so trying an ordeal. 
The mere fact of giving premiums to animals with hereditary 
diseases would defeat the very object of the Society, whilst the 
decision of first-class practical judges will always be strengthened 
by the co-operation of an able veterinarian. Mr. Spooner writes 
thus : — 
" I have the honour to lay before you the following brief 
report of the duties performed by me as Veterinary Inspector of 
the horses entered for the various prizes given by the Society. 
" Every horse admitted into the Show-Yard was duly subjected 
to a careful examijnation both as to its general soundness, and 
especially with reference to its freedom from disease of an 
hereditary nature ; and the result of these examinations was 
made known to the Judges prior to their awards being deter- 
mined upon. 
" I am gratified to be enabled to state that, although the number 
of horses exhibited was far greater than on any former occasion, 
my note-book furnishes fewer cases of unsoundness of a nature 
calculated to interfere with the usefulness of the animals for 
breeding purposes. I particularly noted the comparative absence 
of constitutional ophthalmia and respiratory diseases ; also of those 
morbid ossific deposits termed 'spavins,' 'splints,' 'ringbones,' 
' sidebones.' 
" This marked improvement is doubtless due to the import- 
ance attached to these diseases in the previous awards of the 
Society, and to the very excellent regulation of the Council, 
which requires that every horse, prior to its admission to the 
Show, shall have been examined, and a certificate given as to 
its soundness by a member of the Royal College of Veterinary 
Surgeons. * 
" I may, however, add that I met with several very marked and 
objectionable diseases, which, although only to be viewed as 
exceptional cases, serve to convince me that the veterinary sur- 
geons who examined the horses affected with those diseases either 
failed to perform their duty with ability and truthfulness, or that 
the certificates given by them have not been duly read and 
Aveighed. 
" In the class of Thoroughbreds and Cart-Horses there were 
some very bad cases of ' roaring ' and ' whistling,' and of chronic 
diseases of the feet. 
" Of this latter class of disease, I feel it to be my duty to 
particularise one instance, viz.: '480, Class I. — Stallions for 
Agricultural Purposes.' This horse had generally defective fore 
