VETERINARY J UR I SrilU DE N CE. 
55 
to administer justice, and he really could not perceive why Mr. Neale 
should decline to accede to Mr. Brown’s request, which appeared to 
him to be a most reasonable one. 
Mr. Neale immediately acted upon his honour’s suggestion, and after 
a second examination, and after putting the horse through his paces, 
Mr. Brown again returned into Court, and in answer to Mr. Edlin, 
stated as follows—I am a professor of veterinary medicine, practising 
at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. I have this day ex¬ 
amined a horse shown me by Mr. Ward. That horse is undoubtedly 
unsound at present. He has chronic inflammation of the vessels of both 
his fore feet, producing a little secretion of horn. They are all of a low 
form, indicative of a disease likely to continue for a long time. The 
disease is thoroughly incurable. It is difficult to state when the disease 
began to develope itself internally. It must have begun some months 
since. My impression is that the animal’s feet were in the same state 
on the 31st of March last that they are now. The disease may exist, 
and yet the animal may occasionally not go lame. Animals with this 
disease frequently go sound for three or four months together. On the 
occurrence of any particular condition of road, or travelling down hill, 
or from extra work, it may become lame. From the facts sworn to of 
the horse going down hill and going timidly, 1 should infer that the 
disease did exist at that time. I observed no lameness in seeing the 
horse put through his paces. There is one small spot on the off knee 
of a broken knee. The age of the horse is five years off. There is an 
irregularity in the horse’s mouth. Should say the horse is just under 
15 hands. It is a dark-brown horse. 
Cross-examined by Mr. Jones—My opinions are derived from obser¬ 
vation. The changes are exceedingly slow in the diseases of the horny 
matter. I do not trust people’s notions about lameness in horses, espe¬ 
cially unprofessional persons, whose ideas on the point of unsoundness 
are very crude. The disease in the horse in question has probably been 
in existence twelve months. The horse has rather a convex sole, which 
is another proof of chronic inflammation. I think the convexity of 
the foot arises from disease. There are no such things as natural 
convex feet. 
By the Judge—There is no doubt that the horse I saw has not ossifi¬ 
cation of the cartilages. Ossification is not a disease which may exist 
in June or July and not exist now. I felt the cartilages with my fin¬ 
gers, and found them perfectly elastic. I should conclude that the 
professional men who speak of ossified cartilages have not seen the 
horse in question. 
Mr. Kent, one of the previous witnesses, was here again called by his 
honour, and in reply to questions put to him by the learned judge, said 
—I have seen the horse to-day. There is ossification going on in the 
cartilages. I can feel it. They are not ossified cartilages, but ossifica¬ 
tion is going on. The ossification is just rising to the ring of the hoof. 
The ossification above that is flexible. 
Mr. Edlin here stated that since the last trial Mr. Limbrick, a most 
important witness, had died, and he now asked his honour to refer to 
his notes and to read the evidence of Mr. Limbrick. 
Mr. Jones objected, remarking that he could shake Mr. Limbrick’s 
evidence if it were possible that the witness could again be placed in 
the box, and that it would be extremely unfair to produce secondary 
evidence without giving him (Mr. Jones) an opportunity of cross- 
examining. 
His Honour said, that if a witness happened to die, an Act of Parlia- 
