294 
VETERINARY JURISPRUDENCE. 
was watered and fed as usual; and next morning, when he was 
taken out to a pond, he “ could not bend his head to drink, and 
otherwise appeared stiff.” lie continued in that condition for 
two days, when he got worse, and “ staggered and trembled if 
he was moved.” A farrier was then called, who pronounced 
the horse to be (i very ill with a disease all over and, without 
knowing its nature, “ administered treatment most approved for 
any uncommon disease.” Of course he or his fraternity would 
feel no difficulty in prescribing from so rich a stock of infallibly 
specific nostrums, as they must almost always be situated alike 
with regard to their knowledge of the nature of existing diseases. 
Albeit, as nature in this case had not been equal to the task of 
combating the disease and the remedies employed, the horse 
got still worse; and Mr. Thom was advised to warn Hanton of 
the circumstance, with a request that he would take the animal 
back again, and return the money, as it could not have been 
sound at the time of sale. No answer was returned by Hanton; 
and after a reasonable delay, and the horse getting no better, 
Thom sued him for the amount. Defences were entered, a 
proof was led , and after a long, tedious, and expensive litigation, 
judgment was given by both sheriffs # in favour of the plaintiff. 
The nature of the case will be best understood by quoting 
part of the proof, not excluding the most ridiculous of that 
sworn to by the farriers, as it may afford some amusement to 
a portion of your readers, being a fair specimen of the knowledge 
possessed by quack practitioners. 
There is a disease, it would seem, that affects the horse, of which, 
to the best of my recollection, no notice is taken, either at the 
Veterinary College, or University of London, called the Chords, 
or Chronic Tetanus; and the plaintiff in this case laboured to 
prove that the horse was affected with it, and succeeded in con¬ 
vincing the judges that it was. 
I shall only give a summary of the evidence previously to the 
farriers being called. 
Hanton proved, by the former owner of the horse and his 
servant, that it was sound, as far as they saw, when sold to him; 
and he proved by others, its apparent soundness during the 
three or four days he possessed it. 
Thom then shewed, by his servants, how the horse, the day 
after being brought home, was affected ; that he “ trembled and 
shook, shewing a degree of stiffness of the neck so as to prevent 
his drinking or eating from off the ground.” 
Then followed first among the manufacturers of nail heads 
and consumers of specifics for the cure of all diseases, John 
* Law cases oil horses are decided iti this country, almost always, by 
the county sheriff's, and not by jurymen. 
