ELMORE V. WILDASH. 
167 
Witness.—I did not know he’d die then ; I did not suppose it would hare killed 
him till after he died. I could not think much of the accident, or I should not have 
bought him. 
Would it not have been better to let him rest ? 
Witness.—That’s nothing to do with me. 
Would it not have been better to let him rest? 1 want to nail you to that. 
Witness, considering.—But people can’t wait for a horse, you know; they must 
go about their business : he travelled very well; he was not so ill but what he could 
travel; he went a little lame. I thought exercise was good for a swelled leg. 
Suppose you were to run a nail in your own foot, w ould it be better to walk or sit 
still ? 
Mr. Platt.—I don’t know, my Lord, if that is a proper question. 
Mr. Thesiger.—I think it is a good illustration, though it may be a homely one. 
Witness.—The horse stayed at Biggleswade two or three days, because he was too 
lame to travel. I took the horse from Biggleswade : when I took him from Biggles¬ 
wade, he was not particularly lame but what he could travel. 
— Provost.—I am a veterinary surgeon at Barnet; I was called in to attend this 
horse on the 27th July, 1834. I examined him; he had a puncture in the near foot 
behind, as if from a nail; he lived three hours after 1 was called in: he was dying 
when I first saw him; he died from mortification; the nail had punctured the coffin- 
bone ; death must have ensued from such a wound ; it was mortal; treatment might 
have prolonged the life a little, but the wound was mortal. 
Cross-examined.—The animal not exhibiting lameness for two or three days would 
make no difference. 
Mr. Thesiger then addressed the Jury for the defendant. He should contend that 
the horse had not received a mortal injury, but that he had died from the misconduct 
of the servants of the plaintiff. 
Lord Denman.—I think that is clear from their own evidence. 
Mr. Thesiger then proceeded to argue upon the evidence. He should shew that 
there was no warranty given, and that the horse was sound with the exception of the 
accident, to which the plaintiff himself had been a witness. Having proved this, he 
should entitle himself to their verdict. He then called— 
Daniel Wright, a farmer at Kimbolton —I sold the horse to the plaintiff. Haines 
examined him immediately after he had picked up the nail. The next morning Haines 
came to me, and asked if I had sold the horse. I replied I had not. He then bought 
him, and said, provided the horse is lame, what is to be done with him? I said, if he 
is lame slop him on the road, and don’t allow him to travel. I did not warrant the 
horse sound. 
Cross-examined.— I have sold horses before to the plaintiff for the defendant. I 
never gave any warranty to the plaintiff in my life. I had offered this horse to Mr. 
Bailey, but not with a warranty. 
Samuel Allen.—I am a farrier at Oundle. I used to shoe this horse. I was sent 
for to see this horse after it had picked up the nail. I dressed the wound ; it was 
not in the frog, but in the foot. I examined the horse the next day; he was trotted 
up and down on stones: he did not go at all lame. If he had gone lame, it would 
have been right to have left him in the stable and dressed his foot. It was a bad 
thing for the horse to travel five or six days after it. 
James Turner.—I am a veterinary surgeon, of Regent-street. After a serious 
injury of this kind, it is not always apparent immediately, but generally within twen¬ 
ty-four hours. From the horse not being lame the next day, 1 should say the injury 
was not so great as has been represented ; but from utter want of care, it ended fa¬ 
tally. I consider that the travelling led to the death of the horse. 
Cross-examined.—I have known ahorse recover where the joint-oil had escaped ; 
but the cure occupied twelve months. I have not known an instance where the cof¬ 
fin-bone has been pierced. 
Lord Denman.—After the horse had been thus pricked, was he sound or unsound ? 
Mr. Turner.— Unsound, undoubtedly. 
Charles Clark. — I am a veterinary surgeon. This must, at first, have been a 
slight case. After inflammation had proceeiled someway, we could not tell how far 
the nail had penetrated. In such a case rest is the first requisite. 
