VETKRINAKY MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE. Ill 
months before the sale, during which time, if Mr. Smith’s con¬ 
jecture be right, the rupture and its consequence, immediate 
swelling, must have occurred, could scarcely have failed to ob¬ 
serve such things. 2d. That both he and the witness, Barclay, 
had seen her ridden and trotted on all kinds of roads, and never 
saw her lame. Such being the import of the evidence, the 
oversman is at present inclined to hold, that the pursuers have 
not made out their case. It appears to the oversman that the 
mare was in a very different state on the morning of the 20th 
from what she was when sold on the afternoon of the 19th ; and 
he is not satisfied that the change in her condition is attributable 
to any disease or cause existing at the time of the sale, while he 
thinks it may have resulted from some sprain or other cause 
occurrino; after the sale. 
It appears to the oversman unnecessary to have any further 
written pleadings ; but if the pursuers wish to be heard orally 
against the above views, they must make an application to that 
effect before the first boxday. Failing such application, the 
oversman will issue an award in favour of the defender; and it 
appears to the oversman that expenses ought to follow. 
Adjudication. 
We are of opinion, that the oversman has come to a correct 
conclusion ; but there are some points which would have enabled 
him to have done so more readily if they had been brought into 
view, and which shew the advantao-e which would have arisen 
to all parties by almost certainly stopping the proceeding in the 
commencement, if application had been made to a person pro¬ 
perly acquainted with his profession ; for it appears to us, that 
if a veterinary surgeon had seen the case, as described by the 
witnesses, they must have at once been able to discover by the 
degree of the lameness, and, as far as is proven, the rather sudden 
appearance of it, the extent and rapidity of the swelling, that 
the mischief must have arisen from some recent injury or disease. 
It is extremely probable, that the witness who suggests that it 
was a “ shot of grease/’ was in the right so far, although there is 
nothing in the evidence which shews that it was the recurrence 
of an old attack ; on the contrary, all the evidence is against 
such an opinion. The swelling and lameness might also have 
arisen from an injury, either on the road to the stable, or in it 
during the night, and a number of causes might have produced 
it, which could not readily meet the eye of the purchaser, or 
which could not have been known to any one ; and although 
it is probable that the cause of the disease might have arisen 
