176 
VETERINARY MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE. 
allow me to ask you, whether it is an advantage ?—It certainly is 
not an advantage. 
Is it a merit 1—Yes. (Laughter.) 
The witness explained, by saying, he meant to state that “ a 
slight crib-biter” was neither an unsound nor a vicious animal. 
What is a “ good stanch” crib-biter ?—An old horse that has 
had it for a long while. (Great laughter.) 
Is the health of an old stanch crib-biter affected by the habit? 
Not unless the stomach or bowels are affected. 
Is it a disadvantage to have a crib-biter where the habit exists 
in a great degree? — Sometimes it is—sometimes not. 
You w^ould not, then, give a guinea less for a horse because it 
was a crib-biter ?—Perhaps not, if it had it only slightly. 
Perhaps you have cured some crib-biters ?—No; I never have. 
Have you ever attempted it?—No. 
What remedy w ould you apply if you w r ere to attempt to effect 
a cure ?—Tie his head up to the manger. (Laughter.) 
Would that cure him?—It would not. 
Lord Tenterden .—Why should you do it then?—It w r ould pre¬ 
vent him from biting the manger. (x\ laugh.) 
John Lythe , a veterinary surgeon, examined by Mr. Hutchin¬ 
son.—Have you know r n horses to have the habit of crib-biting, 
and yet their general health not affected by it ?—Many ; in the 
army particularly. 
If they have it not in a degTee to affect the health of the ani¬ 
mal, are they, in your judgment, unsound, because they are crib- 
biters?—Certainly not. 
When they have it only in a slight degree is it a vice?—Not 
unless it disposes the horse to some bodily mischief. 
The witness, on cross-examination, stated, that the habit arose 
frequently from want of food, and frequently from irritation ; and 
he mentioned an instance of the latter. 
Is it a desirable thing' for a horse to have ?—It is not desirable, 
certainly; but I never cast a horse for it. 
Lord Tenterden , after Sir James Scarlett had replied to the 
defendant’s evidence, stated, that the question for the jury was, 
whether the horse w as unsound, or laboured under a defect 
winch could be properly called a vice. His Lordship w as about 
to sum up the evidence, but 
The jury interposed, saying' their minds were made up. 
Lord Tenterden .—You find for the plaintiff, gentlemen? 
A Juror.—Yes, my Lord. 
A verdict was then entered for £41..0s..6d., the difference 
between the price which the plaintiff had paid for the horse and 
the net proceeds of the sale. 
