SOUNDNESS IN HORSES. 
4()2 
mate matter—between organic and inorganic life: I know it may 
be argued that the defect in the decanter can be aggravated only 
by use or accident—that, so long as the glass vessel remains laid 
up, so long will it remain in statu quo ; and that, so far from this 
being the case with a living body, even though it be kept in a 
perfectly quiescent state, disease in it will either increase or dimi¬ 
nish the animal will either grow worse or grow better; for which 
reasons, it may be said, my comparison is not justifiable. The 
only reply I can make, is, that I am desirous to come to some 
decision, in regard to these embarrassing cases, than which, as 
you are all well aware, gentlemen, nothing is more “ devoutly to 
be wishedand, for my own part, I see no way of arriving at 
this desideratum, so equitable, and likely to prove satisfactory, as 
to say — 
lhat a horse purchased with one disease upon him, ought not to 
be held returnable for or with any other , contracted afterwards. 
1 he next question I would propose for solution is, disease being 
admitted to be the principal one,—exist there any other causes 
of constitutional unsoundness ? 
Ihis question I should certainly answer in the affirmative : but, 
prior to rendering my reasons for saying so, I should wish to be 
informed, whether I am to regard those states as disease r which, 
although void of all morbid action in themselves, are the results 
or effects of it: they may be viewed in either light—as disease or 
not—and treated, in regard to soundness, accordingly; but, in 
my opinion, it is most natural, and fair, and expedient, that they 
should not be set down in the list of diseases, unless they impair 
function or capacity. To throw in here an illustration of what I 
mean by this—I would not regard any established change or alter¬ 
ation of the eye as a cause of unsoundness, so long as it did not 
affect the extent or powers of vision; while, on the other hand, I 
would pronounce even a simple wart upon the lid of the eye to 
be sufficient to constitute unsoundness, if I found that it in any¬ 
wise obstructed or diminished the sight. 
Setting, however, these dubious cases altogether out of the 
question, (as certainly closely related to, if not of themselves, dis¬ 
ease ), it is for me to show that a horse, who is acknowledged to be 
free from disease, may yet prove unsound. According to the prin¬ 
ciple I have laid down— unnatural impairment of f unction or 
capacity , a horse that has but one eye is unsound : he is unsound 
because he, manifestly, labours under disadvantages when com¬ 
pared with a horse that has two; which disadvantages are more 
apparent in the horse and most other animals than in ourselves, 
under the same circumstances, in consequence of the lateral posi¬ 
tion of the eves. T his doctrine is in perfect accordance with the 
