184 
SOUNDNESS AND UNSOUNDNESS. 
besetting sin, and recoils upon us with a tenfold injury for 
all we receive in a pecuniary w T ay. Well then, shall we deter- 
mine upon a code in preference to our present custom? If 
so, let us by all means lend our aid cordially and honestly, 
and try to make plain every question, and every answer, and 
not use all our tact to bewilder and puzzle each other in an 
attempt to prove, either that every affection, every disease, 
and even vice constitutes unsoundness or not as the case 
may be, or that every infirmity partakes either of the one 
condition or the other. 
It is considered by some parties, that to define or lay down 
a rule of soundness and unsoundness, is a most difficult if not 
an insurmountable task; but I do not see the abstruseness of 
the subject, so much as I fear I do the reluctance of the 
general body of the profession to recognise a definitive code. 
I have just heard that a pamphlet upon veterinary juris- 
prudence will shortly be published ; but it seems to me that 
such a production, emanating from any one person, can be of 
little use, as the profession will not accept it as an authority. 
I would suggest that the professors of the Veterinary College 
take means of ascertaining the opinion of the profession upon 
every disease, either of a temporary or permanent description, 
upon which a difference of opinion is known to exist , and let 
the majority render every such question final. If w r e are to 
wait until every member has his own views complied with, it 
will be impossible to form a code in the present generation. 
Let the questions be plainly and concisely put, and let the 
answers be, yes , or no , — for example : does a cough, however 
recent, render a horse unsound so long as it continues? An- 
swer, yes, or no. Is a horse with an exostosis upon the hock, 
commonly called a spavin, but unattended by lameness, 
unsound ? Answer, yes, or no. 
A printed circular, something after this kind, could easily 
be forwarded to every member of the profession of ten years’ 
standing and upwards, and ample time given for a reply ; 
while in the interval all parties desirous of offering their 
remarks or opinions upon the nature of the diseases in ques- 
tion, could do so through the pages of the Veterinarian. I 
for one shall be most happy to peruse all such communi- 
cations, and join freely in offering such comments as my 
humble abilities are capable of ; and further, when the whole 
of the votes have been obtained, such opinions of mine as are 
found to be supported by the minority only, I will willingly 
cast aside, and in all future examinations of horses abide by 
the opinion of the majority. Some such mode of proceeding 
as this I have suggested (and I offer it as nothing else) wdll 
