100 
VETERINARY JURISPRUDENCE. 
neither he nor his man can or ought to have blame imputed to him, 
seeing that the accident is one which no skill or foresight would 
have prevented. 
Since the above was written we have received the following 
remarks on the case in question — of Collins v . Rodway — from a 
gentleman who was present in court during the whole of the pro- 
ceedings ; and, excellent as they are, we gladly insert them as a 
corollary to our own comments : — 
In remarking on the trial of Collins v. Rodway, it is not a pro- 
fessional province to inquire into the equity or correctness of the 
points of law, nor of the soundness of the views of the Judge in 
the summing up, touching the mere law view of the case ; but it 
certainly is within professional province to remark upon any cir- 
cumstance which may bear directly on professional points ; and in 
the course of the trial it was elicited that the veterinary surgeon, 
as such, does not stand very high either as to respectability or 
scientific knowledge, in the estimation of the gentlemen learned 
in the law. It is certainly not a subject for gratulation when 
scientific knowledge, which belongs to, and can only be given by, 
the veterinary surgeon, is sought to be obtained from mere shoeing 
smiths*, or their apprentices : but even this is better than pursuing 
the same course with men of other trades or pursuits, altogether 
dissimilar. It may be urged that gentlemen at the bar are only 
pursuing the course for which they are employed ; but this only 
palliates the impropriety ; it does not remove it. What would be 
said if, in an action which involved injury to the foot of a man, 
and which arose from a presumed unfitness of a shoe or boot, we 
were endeavouring to ascertain the nature of the injury, its kind, 
duration, or symptoms, from a mere handicraft shoemaker or tailor 1 
* Mr. sworn and examined by Mr. Humfrey. 
Q. You are a veterinary surgeon ? 
A. I do practise, but I am not a member of the College. 
Q. You are none the worse for that You are a farrier ? 
A. Yes. 
Q. You know how to shoe a horse, I suppose ? 
A. Yes, I expect I do. 
