HOLE V. MOUNTSTEPHEN. 82;^ 
the 4th ; it had received a blow, and there were several abrasions 
of the skin about midway between the knee and the fetlock joint 
of the off fore leg. There was a swelling about it, and a little 
discharge, such as we generally see from blows of that kind. I 
examined it; it appeared to be of a temporary kind—if it had 
been an old inflammation revived, I should have observed it im¬ 
mediately. It was cured in about a fortnight. The swelling 
went down of its own accord. I observed no other scar or old 
wound about the leg. 
The Lord Chief Justice .—When you saw there was something 
the matter with the horse, did you examine it in all other respects ? 
—I did my Lord. Examined .—My son examined it, and Mr. 
Drake also examined it. It remained with me from August the 
8d or 4th till the 15th of December, when I wanted to get paid 
lor its keep. It was sold by Mr. Hussey, the auctioneer, for 
£17..6s..6d. What I saw could have arisen in the journey 
from Exeter to Torrington. There was nothing that led me to 
believe that this was a long-standing defect. In my judgment the 
horse was perfectly sound with the exception of this disease. 
Cross-examined .—When he came to me he was a little stiff— 
you may say lame. When he came first, he had a serous fluid 
running from a wound in the leg—not what is termed matter, 
or pus, but a thin glairy fluid. Blood would first be discharged 
from such a wound as the horse had, and after the blood this thin 
fluid, and, after that, a cicatrix or scab would be formed. This, 
in such a wound, would probably take place within about eight- 
and-forty hours ; but that would depend upon the extent of the 
injury. The whole of the ligaments attached to the knee, and a 
small portion of the back part of the knee, were swollen in con¬ 
sequence of being near the neighbourhood of the wound. The 
swelling approached the fetlock joint, but did not affect it. When 
a horse receives a blow on the inside of the leg, it is a very com¬ 
mon occurrence for the swelling to extend down to the fetlock joint, 
and likewise to the back of the leo^. This swelling is the result 
of inflammation of the part. A strain on the muscles would pro¬ 
duce inflammation, and is more or less violent, according to the 
nature of the injury. We can distinguish between inflammation 
arising from the one cause or the other ; the one is more superficial 
than the other, and you can feel it with the finger: the horse 
also puts his heel differently to the ground, and goes with 
greater ease in the one case than in the other. The tendon can be 
inflamed in consequence of the wound, but not severely. If there 
was a considerable wound on the lower part of the leg, it would 
not produce inflammation in the tendon, except from sympathy. 
I am speaking of inflammation extending to the tendons when a 
