710 
A CASK OF SPAVIN. 
The action was brought on a warranty as to the soundness of 
a horse. The plaintiff is an extensive dealer in horses, carrying- 
on business in the London-road, and the defendant was in the 
same line in Warwickshire, until about twelve years ago, when 
he became a publican. He, nevertheless, now and then bought 
a horse to sell again ; and in January, in the present year, sent a 
nag to Banbury for that purpose. The horse was purchased by an 
agent of the plaintiff, who received at the same time a warranty 
of soundness. A few days after the arrival of the animal in Lon- 
don, it was discovered that it was lame in one of its hinder legs ; 
and the question to be determined upon the present occasion was, 
whether such lameness, or its cause, had existed at the period of 
the purchase, or whether it was the result of an accident received 
subsequently. 
On the part of the plaintiff, Mr. Spooner, the Professor at the 
Veterinary College, and Mr. Field, were called, who stated that 
the lameness was the effect of spavin, which, from its symptoms, 
could not have made its original appearance so recently as subse- 
quently to the sale. 
On the other hand, Mr. Kerr, also a veterinary surgeon, denied 
the existence of a spavin, and attributed the lameness to a liga- 
mentous injury, which the animal might have sustained either 
during its journey to or even since its arrival in town. The two 
former Professors said, that such a spavin as that which this 
horse had could not have been in existence less than six weeks 
or two months. 
Mr. Baron Alderson left it to the jury to say, whether, upon 
the evidence, the spavin was or was not in existence at the time 
of sale by the defendant. The plaintiff had paid £40 for the 
horse, and on selling it at TattersalPs it had realized, after the ex- 
penses attendant thereon had been defrayed, not more than 
£26 Is. 9d. If, therefore, the jury were of opinion that the horse 
was unsound on the 19th of January, the day on which it had 
been sold by the defendant, they would find a verdict for the 
plaintiff for £15 18s. 3d. and such further amount as was fair and 
reasonable for the keep. Upon the point of soundness there ap- 
peared a difference of opinion — a result which was not at all of un- 
common occurrence, seeing that veterinary men frequently differed 
with regard to the spavin. The jury would, however, give the 
question and the evidence their full consideration, and find a ver- 
dict accordingly. 
The jury, after consulting some time, retired to consider their 
verdict, and after an absence of nearly four hours returned, find- 
ing for the plaintiff with damages £20 18s. 3d. 
