468 
OBSERVATIONS ON 
ment. of many chronic affections of the skin and of the abdominal 
viscera. 
Hop. The hop is a powerful tonic, but its base, the lupnline , 
is too expensive for common use. 
The olive tree. The leaves and the bark have an ex¬ 
tremely rough and bitter flavour, and possess tonic and antipe¬ 
riodical powers : they form one of the best substitutes for Peru¬ 
vian bark. 
The lilac. Possessed of considerable tonic and antiperiodical 
power. 
[To be continued.] 
ISxtract* from gjotmtate, ^foreign aitir JBommic. 
Observations on Commercial Veterinary Juris¬ 
prudence. 
By M. Bernard, Assistant Professor at the Veterinary School of Lyons. 
The various provinces of France were formerly regulated by 
customs differing from, and often contrary to each other, and by 
usages yet more bounded in their adoption, and more defective. . 
Usage, say the lawyers, is law not written; custom is written 
law, the compilation of which has been ordered by sovereign au¬ 
thority. 
Usage, according to Denisart, is established by the free con¬ 
sent of the people, and insensibly assumes the character of law 
when long tradition has sanctioned it : it, nevertheless, leaves 
room for too much dispute. As it is not written, every one pre¬ 
tends to have a rule for himself, and will find witnesses to depose 
pro or con according to his wishes. Hence appears the necessity 
of reducing these usages into some acknowledged form ; and St. 
Louis was the first who attempted to accomplish this important 
object. These customs, too defective, were revised at different 
times; and at length were reduced into proper form under 
Francis I, by Bourdot de Richebourg. 
The civil code has since appeared, and, more in unison with our 
state of civilization, has caused this diversity of laws to disappear, 
which could only have belonged to the legislation of other times. 
Animals so useful in agriculture and commerce could at no 
time be passed over in silence. The Romans considered them as 
objects of commerce, in the same light as their slaves; and there 
is every reason to believe that there were the same laws relating 
to the purchase and sale. Common custom has always consi¬ 
dered these animals as a special object of commerce, and has 
