WARRANTY OF SOUNDNESS, ETC. 303 
fancies, and aspirations — that in most natures seem doomed 
to fade away before the stern realities of experience. But it 
is pleasant to contemplate, when we find it, one of those 
exceptional instances in which the delightful feelings of youth 
continue to maintain their ascendancy. Mr. Hales’s 
touching reverence for the wisdom of the wig is not the 
only verdant spot on his imagination. Familiarity, in many 
men, breeds only contempt, and much experience as a witness 
in courts of law will often beget a sense of indifference to the 
result. For my own part, I confess that I am neither elated 
by success nor depressed by defeat. But Mr* Haleses 
enjoyment of the plaintiff’s triumph is something beautiful 
to behold. To win under any circumstances is pleasant 
enough, but to win when “all the primti facie appliances were 
on the other side,” “in the town where the judge holds his 
monthly court,” and “with a jury of the defendants towns- 
men,” is positively delightful. This freshness of feeling, 
capable of so much enjoyment from causes that in more 
sluggish natures would scarcely stir the pulse, is really some- 
thing to be envied, and it is in all sincerity I congratulate 
Mr. Hales on its possession. 
A word or two on the more general question. Whilst 
lamenting the evils of such cases as deeply as Mr. Pritchard, 
or Mr. Dickens, or any other gentleman who has written on 
the subject, I confess I have no hope of a remedy from any 
of the suggestions that have been made. In the majority of 
horse-causes the disputed point will be found to be the exist- 
ence of disease. One party swears there is disease, the other 
party that there is none ; and perhaps we find, to borrow Mr. 
Hales’s plain, though hardly grammatical style of putting it, 
there are “ three veterinary surgeons on either side.” 
From such a slough as this there is no mode of extri- 
cation. 
The more deeply the subject is considered, the more 
forcibly will it appear that there is no remedy for this moral 
malady of the profession, excepting the radical one of ex- 
cision. We must seek to abolish the custom of warranty 
altogether, in its present absolute form. It is idle to say this 
is impossible. It is quite possible, because it is most reason- 
able, and the members of the veterinary profession throughout 
the country may do much towards effecting an arrangement 
that would be at once highly beneficial both to themselves and 
the public. Since the appearance of my letter in the pages 
of the Shrewsbury Journal , I have reason to believe there 
are very few breeders of horses in this immediate locality who 
could be prevailed upon to give any other form of warranty than 
