THE BBOODSTONE CASE. 
547 
the ordinary course of matters, was entitled to the stakes ; but the 
defendant, as the owner of the second horse, raised an objection as 
to its age. * * * * 
* * After the race, the stakes were claimed by 
the defendant as well as by the plaintiff, and therefore the stake- 
holder, with a view to his own protection, had applied to the Court 
of Queen’s Bench, under a power given him by the act of parlia- 
ment; and the Court under that act — the Interpleader Act — directed 
that the parties claiming should be made the litigant persons, and 
that the issues to be tried should be, whether the colt Bloodstone 
was born in 1842, and had been got by Bubastes out of Romaike. 
The jury, consequently, would have three points to determine — 
first, whether this colt was born in 1842 ; secondly, whether its 
sire was Bubastes ; and, thirdly, whether its dam had been the mare 
Romaike. These were the three questions they would have to de- 
termine, and it was upon those points that it would become his duty 
to satisfy them, and, if he did so, then he should be fully entitled to 
their verdict. * * * * 
* * He, in fact, undertook to prove that the case 
as he had detailed its circumstances was correct, and that the colt 
Bloodstone was not over age, but was fully entitled to the stakes of 
this particular race. If he did this, he must again express a hope 
that the jury would not allow any theoretical (query professional ?) 
opinions which might be brought forward on behalf of the defend- 
ant to operate upon their minds as against positive proof of facts. 
Sufficient, then, was it for him to say, that he was in a position to 
prove the case as he had detailed it, and, having done so, then he 
could entertain no fear for the result ; — the verdict would be for the 
plaintiff. 
The following comprises the professional evidence adduced : — 
Mr. Coleman. — I am a veterinary surgeon, and have been in 
business for twenty years : I carry on my business at Cheam, in 
Surrey. In my judgment the appearance of the mouth of a two or 
three-year-old is not an infallible rule to ascertain the age ; but 
I think you can generally tell the age. It is difficult to decide 
between an early two-year-old and a late three-year-old colt. If 
