VETERINARY JURISPRUDENCE IN SCOTLAND. 495 
persons it passed into the care of Mr. Kent’s servant, and 
he says, the horse was only ill four days: there is some little 
discrepancy between his evidence and Mr. Kent’s. This is 
all the evidence of persons who pretend to no science; and, 
as far as their testimony goes, we are unable to discover any 
cause of death. 
But now we come to the evidence of the veterinary sur¬ 
geons, who, except some evidence by Mr. Kent with re¬ 
ference to the treatment of the horse, speak merely to 
scientific points. 
We take Mr. Kent’s evidence first, and I will read to you 
what he says about the treatment of the horse. “ On the 
4th of April I rode him out about two and a half miles 
from home. On my way the horse began to cough, and 
coughed till he nearly tumbled down. I pulled him in and 
stood still, as I thought he would have fallen down, he 
coughed so very violently. I had not ridden him fast at all. 
I walked him the greater part of the w 7 ay. I observed no 
cause for this cough. There was no cause in anything I had 
done that day. After I heard him cough, I walked him 
gently home, and gave him some medicine as soon as he re¬ 
turned. 1 gave a drachm of aloes, with some carbonate of 
ammonia and linseed meal. In my judgment that w^as the 
proper medicine to give. It is what I am in the habit of 
giving constantly. The next day, the 5th, I gave him some 
medicine again. I did not observe whether he coughed in 
the stable ; I w 7 as there frequently, but did not hear him do 
so. On the 6th, I had him saddled to take me out again ; 
but he was so out of spirits, and showed such languor, that 
I only rode him about tw 7 o hundred yards at a walking pace, 
and brought him back again. I gave him medicine again on 
that day; and he had as good care and attention as any 
other horse of mine ever had. The next day, the 7th, he 
had another dose of medicine. I did not hear him cough 
either on that day or the 6th, when he w>as so low spirited. 
On the 8th, he was taken ill, and at noon refused his oats. 
He ate his morning feed, but his mid-day one he left in the 
manger. My groom informed me of it, and at four in the 
afternoon I went and saw 7 the horse, and found him very ill. 
His pulse was 60 a minute; 20 a minute more than it 
ought to be. This showed fever; and I gave him a drachm 
of aloes, some foxglove, and some tartar emetic. The object 
of this w 7 as to lower his pulse. Towards the evening the 
pulse rose to 90, and he w 7 as bled between nine and ten 
o’clock that night. I am sure that he ought then to have 
been bled. He had been getting worse rapidly from four 
