VETERINARY JURISPRUDENCE. 
99 
his Lordship (the Judge) would tell the jury, the question for their 
consideration was, “ Did Mr. Rodway, in performing his duty as a 
farrier, bring to the performance of that duty, not by himself, for 
he is not the working hand who did it, but by the man who did 
the business for him — did he bring to bear competent skill and rea- 
sonable care in the performance of that duty V* Having done this, 
however, and made the most of his strong point of the law of the 
case, how little afterwards was he prepared to make of the vete- 
rinary part of the case! — “ If he did,” continues Mr. Jervis, “ from 
the mere accident which may arise from the necessary liability of 
a nail to turn, from, perhaps, the uneasy way of a horse standing , 
which may cause the accident, or other circumstances” — if he did, 
“ from mere accident,” prick the horse’s foot, “ for that Mr. Rod way 
is not liable.” Now this “ mere accident” Mr. Jervis might have 
proceeded to inform the jury was, from a variety of circumstances 
over which the smith had no control, so liable to happen, that the 
wonder was horses were not pricked a great deal oftener than they 
are ; and further, that if veterinary surgeons or farriers are to be 
made liable for the consequences every time a horse is pricked, the 
sooner they shut up their forges the better. In cases of thin, weak, 
brittle, or defective crusts, of fleshiness of foot, of splitting of the 
point of the nail or aversion of it from its course by unnatural 
toughness or hardness of horn, of bending of the nail in the driving 
or while it is being clinched up, or else of some sudden start from 
fright or other cause the horse gives while being shod — we repeat, 
the cases in which failure may happen, in the hands of the best and 
most careful workman , being so various and many, the only won- 
der is that the accident of pricking is not a great deal more frequent 
than we find it to be. And if, we repeat, shoers of horses are to 
have actions at law brought against them every time an accident 
of the kind happens, the sooner veterinary surgeons and farriers 
form themselves into “ societies protective” against such persecu- 
tion the better. No proprietor of a forge can see a horse pricked 
by his men without feelings of vexation at the occurrence, hardly 
less in amount than any annoyance or disappointment the owner 
of the horse may experience ; added to which, no doubt, he would 
feel every inclination to amend the grievance : at the same time, 
