HORSE CAUSE IN LOWER CANADA. 339 
“ ‘ Courbatta, Courbcittue ; adj. (equaus obstructus) qui a la 
courbature. Cheval courbattu, c’est a dire, qui n’a pas le 
mouvement des jambes bien libre. 
Courbature ; s. f. (Asthmus. Equi obstructio.) Chaleur 
etrangere causee par les obstructions qui sont dans les intestins 
et dans le poumon, et qui donne les memes signes que la 
pousse. 
Cette maladie arrive quand un cheval est tellement fatigue, 
qu’il ne peut presque pas respirer. Cheval courbattu, qui a 
ete pousse a l’outrance et n’a pas la respiration libre; il est dif- 
ferent du poussif en ce que celui-ci a le poumon altere, avec de 
grands redoublements de flanc. Un cheval peut devenir cour- 
battu sans avoir ete surmend, lorsqu’il a les parties interieures, 
ou lesang, echauffe et plein d’humeurs etrangeres.’ 
“ I then referred to Boyer’s Dictionary, where I found these 
words : — 
Courbattu; il se dit d’un cheval qui a les jambes roides 
pour avoir trop travaille.’ 1 may here state that the word 
‘ surmene’ is a term of the manege, and is rendered in the same 
dictionary of Richelet, ‘ c’est accabler un cheval de travail.’ 
“ The Court will be pleased to observe, that the word ‘ cour- 
battu’ is, in the first place, applied to a horse that has not the 
free use of his legs, the cause of the want of that free use not 
being stated. 
“ In the second place, a * cheval courbattu! is said to be one 
that has been pushed beyond endurance (pousse a l’outrance), 
and so affected in its respiration. 
“ In the third place, that a horse may be ‘ courbattu without 
having been ‘ surmene or, in other words, pushed beyond 
endurance in over- work. 
“ I then take Solleysel’s definition, that the want of free 
use in the limbs is caused by obstructions in the intestines and 
lungs. 
“ In these apparently conflicting statements I discovered 
pretty well where the truth lay, so far as the meaning of the 
word courbature is, as used by the old manege writers. 
“ I must here observe, that the Sieur de Solleysel, whose 
‘ Complete Farrier’ is quoted in the Dictionary of Richelet, 
and according to this honorable Court, by certain writers on 
French law, was not a veterinary surgeon, but a riding-master 
or equerry to Louis Quinze; and that his book was written 
towards the end of the 17th century, or about seventy years 
before the establishment of the Royal Veterinary School at 
Lyons, and the Royal Veterinary College at Alfort, respec- 
tively founded in 1761 and 1766 by the King of France; and 
that it would be just as ridiculous to quote Paracelsus, or any 
