290 
VETERINARY JURISPRUDENCE. 
plaintiff sought large damages for the infliction of a great wrong. The de- 
fendant should show that the cattle were all sound, as warranted. The 
plaintiff would prove that they were not sound ; and the case would even- 
tuate in an inquiry as to the amount of damages. The plaintiff resided in 
the county Carlow ; he held several grass farms in the county Kildare. He 
possessed 1,500 acres of feeding land. The defendant, Mr. Walter 
M’Donough, lived near Ballinasloe, county Galway. He was one of the most 
extensive stock-farmers in the county. He held vast tracts of land in Gal- 
way, Roscommon, Mayo, and the King’s County. In a great degree he 
confined himself to the rearing of stock. Upon the 4th of October the fair 
of Ballinasloe began. Upon the 2d of October, 1857, the plaintiff was at 
the fair of Moate, and purchased from a Mr. Hudson ten large bullocks. 
Upon the 8th of October, the day of the sale of black cattle at Ballinasloe, 
he purchased the heifers of the defendant. It was desirable to purchase 
cattle from one person whose respectability was a guarantee for the sound- 
ness of the animals which he sold. The defendant had his cattle separate 
and apart from others, under the great wall of Lord Clancarty’s demesne, in 
lots of thirty each. The plaintiff had previously suffered in consequence of 
having purchased unsound cattle, and on this occasion he adopted the wise 
and prudent course of making particular inquiries of the vendors, and in 
every instance insisting upon engagements. Accordingly, he proceeded to 
the lots of the defendant and made particular inquiries whether they were 
sound. He was informed that he might rest satisfied, as he (defendant) had 
reared every one of them from calves, and he had not had a single case of dis- 
temper or disease amongst his various lands for the last two or three years. 
He was asked for an engagement, and he undertook and did give an un- 
doubted warranty. The plaintiff purchased two of the lots, No. 7 and No. 
8, each consisting of 30 heifers, at £12 15s. per head. With these lots he 
did not find fault, because he considered that the disease was confined to lot 
No. 11. The plaintiff was afterwards solicited to inspec lots No. 10 and 
11. The defendant pledged himself to their quality; as he said every one of 
them had been reared by himself, he (plaintiff) need not be afraid, as he would 
engage every one of them to be sound, and if he would consent to take the 
cattle he might pay him in any way he thought proper. The plaintiff was, ac- 
cordingly, induced 1o buy lot No. 10 at the rate of £12 15s. per head, and 
to purchase eventually the remaining lot, No. 11. He likewise purchased 
ten bullocks from Lord Ashtown. These heifers were brought to Carlow ; 
they stopped at intervals along the road, and were taken care of by a trust- 
worthy servant. Upon the 12th October they stopped at Mr. Johnson’s, of 
Miltown, near Atliy, where they were permitted to remain for the night. 
Mr. Johnson observed that two of the heifers laboured under the disease ; 
one of them being considerably worse than the other, and he considered that 
the lot was distempered. The cattle were removed to a farm of the plaintiff’s, 
which was situate a few miles from Carlow (Garryhindon). The plaintiff saw 
the cattle in the morning, and he perceived that one of them was distem- 
pered. He separated the diseased beast from the rest. She was so bad that 
he sent her to Smithfield at once ; and instead of selling her, they were 
at once obliged to slaughter her. In a few days another heifer in lot No. 11 
exhibited symptoms of distemper: 170 beasts in all became infected with 
and displayed symptoms of this latent infirmity and disease. It appeared 
that the disease, which first exhibited itself upon the continent, was in the 
year 1842 or 1843 introduced into Ireland. A post-mortem examination of 
the animal plainly demonstrated that it was a disease which grew upon it 
day after day. The affection was this — the lungs adhered to the side, fas- 
tened, as it were, by bands ; it was difficult to separate the lung from the side, 
and became necessary, in fact, to tear them asunder. The period of de- 
