VETERINARY JURISPRUDENCE IN SCOTLAND. 215 
own “ knowledge ” of rural affairs, and particularly of such things 
as concern the condition and diseases of cattle, he would look 
upon it as one of the “ absurdest” of things that he should be 
trusted with the decision of such cases as the one in question. 
As a proof of this, we shall relate for his instruction a case that 
came professionally under our notice since the date of the de¬ 
cision of Smith’s case, and, rather singularly, happening within a 
short distance of the place from which Smih’s cow was brought. 
A cow was purchased at a sale of farm stock in the early 
part of April, in the present year, to all appearance healthy, and 
actually in high condition. About the end of the month she 
calved to her new owner, took ill, and died. The buyer went 
against the seller for restitution of the price, and a post-mortem 
examination of the body was made by two veterinary surgeons, 
one appointed by each of the parties. The cause of death was 
found to be disease within the chest. There was extensive ad¬ 
hesion of both lungs to the ribs, evidently of long standing, from 
the perfection of the organization of the adventitious tissue; and 
in one of the pleurae there was found a mass about the size of an 
ordinary turnip, of hard concreted matter enveloped in a cyst of 
organised tissue. Both veterinary surgeons (they were only 
country ones, however) unanimously agreed that these appear¬ 
ances of disease had been in existence for a long time, and that 
the animal was unsound at the time of sale, and for many 
months previously. 
The lesson which the Sheriff ought to learn from this case is, 
to trust less to his own preconceived and “common sense” 
notions of how long latent disease may exist, and to refer rather 
to matters of fact. By the voluntary statement of the seller, as 
well as by other proof, it appeared that this cow had pleuro¬ 
pneumonia in October, 1848 —eighteen months previous to the 
time of sale, from which she made, by judicious treatment, such 
a recovery as enabled her to get into good condition, to produce 
a calf in seller’s custody in the spring of 1849, and to thrive 
apparently from that date to the time of sale, April, 1850. Yet 
with all this, no doubt whatever could exist that the adhesions 
and deposit of matter found in the chest had been there since the 
pleuro-pneumonia of 1848, and although the cow had subse¬ 
quently to this produced a calf and got into high condition, yet 
the fatigue of removal, the change of circumstances in her new 
quarters, or perhaps something specially adverse attending her 
calving in 1850, so overbore the powers of the constitution, as 
to enable the disease, which had so long lain latent, to regain its 
ascendency and terminate life. 
What is specially worthy of remark about this case, and 
which we would press on the attention of our readers, is, that 
