328 
VETERINARY JURISPRUDENCE. 
three checks. 1 saw Mr. Maxwell that day, and he was riding the horse 
carefully. 
John Jackson, Esq. — I live at Riston Grange, and know Mr. Maxwell. I 
remember meeting him on the 11th at Rise Mill. He was riding a chestnut 
horse. We found more than one fox. We ran the first twelve or fifteen 
minutes. The pace was three or four miles in a quarter of an hour. We 
killed a fox in Hatfield cover, but I do not believe it was the same. We 
had a check of half an hour. We then started another fox, and had a run of 
eight or nine minutes. Mr. Maxwell was not among the foremost, but was 
with me. We afterwards were not galloping, but trotting. Mr. Maxwell 
appeared to be riding carefully. 
Cross-examined. — Mr. Maxwell is generally a bold rider, but did not ride 
in his usual way on this occasion. I am not a bold rider. The pace was 
pretty strong, and might be about sixteen miles an hour. We had several 
leaps. The first run was a short chase, but the second was eight or nine 
miles. There was a check. There were no other gentlemen left behind but 
myself and Mr. Maxwell. 
Thomas Bland, Esq. — On Monday, the 11th of December, I hunted with 
the Holderness hounds. My horse went from Market Weighton, ten miles 
further than Mr. Maxwell’s horse would have to go. I saw Mr. Maxwell in 
the field ; he did not appear to be riding hard. I got before him. We killed 
about four o’clock, and I came home with Mr. Maxwell and Mr. Hall. I 
observed that, when within two miles of Beverley, Mr. Maxwell’s horse began 
to flag, and he was quite beaten near Beverley. We came home from the 
field at about nine miles an hour, which is a usual pace in coming from 
hunting. 
John Fox, servant to Mr. Bethell, of Rise, and Mr. John Blakey , livery- 
stable keeper, of Beverley, were called to prove that Mr. Maxwell’s horse 
was in good condition both at Rise and Beverley, taking his gruel, mash, 
and corn, the same as the other horses. 
Mr. Wm. Hargreaves. — I am a veterinary surgeon, and have been in prac- 
tice forty years. On the 28th of November I went to Everingham at the 
request of Mr. Smith, to examine a horse. I have had experience in con- 
tracted feet. Some horses may have a narrow foot, and still no contraction. 
There is usually lameness with contraction ; but it is nevertheless possible 
for a horse to be sound if the contraction is coming on gradually. He will 
not feel pain from the contraction when this is the case, at least not to that 
degree which will cause him to go lame. As the disease advances he begins 
to feel the pain, and turns lame. In a naturally formed and healthy foot 
there is what is termed the horny laminae, and the membranous or sensitive 
laminae, which dove-tail into each other. The laminae consist of thin horny 
leaves, extending all round it, and are about five hundred in number. They 
very much resemble the under surface of a mushroom, and are perfectly 
elastic. This is necessary to give elasticity to the foot. Contraction may 
arise from a variety of causes. It generally does so from inflammation in the 
internal part of the foot. Chronic inflammation may come on slowly, and the 
horse will consequently experience little pain. In some cases the laminae 
will become ossified, in others there will be absorption of the coffin-bone. All 
this may arise from a number of causes. The inflammation causes the hoof 
to contract, and it presses on the sensitive part of the foot. The horny part 
of the hoof contracts into a smaller compass, and prevents in a great measure 
the elasticity of the foot. The effect of that contraction produces an altera- 
tion in the structure of the foot, and when that structure is altered the func- 
tion is altered, and in the majority of instances lameness is produced. If a 
