490 SOUNDNESS AND WARRANTY OF HORSES. 
deviation from health, or any abnormal development which 
he may detect, and at the same time to give an opinion 
grounded on his practice and experience, as to the probable 
consequences of the defect upon the future usefulness and 
value of the animal in question. 
I must therefore give my opinion in favour of the veteri- 
nary surgeon, of whose individuality I am ignorant, whom 
Mr. Hawthorn has quoted as having rejected a horse on ac- 
count of an incipient corn . It is true, as that gentleman 
states, that with ordinary care all would soon have been set 
right; but we must suppose the converse, namely, that on 
the horse being put to work on the London stones, further 
extravasation of blood would take place, and be followed by 
tenderness or positive lameness, and consequent loss of service. 
It is with horses as with men, time is money. 
The perusal of this case brought to my memory one some- 
what analogous, which occurred some few 7 years past, and in 
which I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Haw thorn in con- 
sultation, when the affair w 7 as amicably and satisfactorily 
arranged. The particulars are these. A client of mine sold a 
young horse to a person in Northamptonshire, believing him 
to be perfectly sound; but he subsequently received notice of 
his return on account of a “ curb .’ 5 
At our meeting, on my closely questioning the groom of 
the purchaser, he acknowledged that upon being sent on a 
hurried mission, by his master, he had galloped the horse 
some miles, and jumped him over several stiles, and other 
things. I contended that this evidence w 7 as quite sufficient 
to show that the curb might have been produced since the 
sale, and I recollect how ingeniously my friend tried to con- 
vince me, as his junior, of the great probability of the curb 
having existed in a slight degree at the time of the sale. I 
should suppose much in the same ratio as the corn he objects 
to, existed in the horse’s sole. 
Mr. Gregory, in his communication, quotes some cases of 
horses w ith bony enlargements at the seat of spavin, having 
been retained by their ow ners on his recommendation, and 
which continued free from lameness. 
The question, however, arises, were the animals of equal 
value to sound ones in the market? The same argument 
would apply to a chandelier, a mirror, or a decanter, which 
had a star or flaw; it may answer every purpose for which it 
is intended, yet if offered for sale a great depreciation from 
its original price must be submitted to. 
A case in point came under my notice three years ago. 
A gentleman purchased a five-year-old, w ; eight-carrying 
