WARRANTY OF ANIMALS. 
249 
vouring to return, or compel refunding the price of any 
animal sold. The decisions in the two cases referred to 
above will, however, in future, materially alter the aspect 
and hearing of these very vexing and uncertain litigations. 
In the one case a farmer sold a horse for £37 10s. to 
another farmer as a carriage and saddle horse, and in so 
doing gave no sort of warranty with the horse, but he was 
quite aware for what purpose and intent the purchaser 
wanted the horse. In a short time the purchaser discovered 
the horse to be suffering from spavin, and immediately sued 
the seller for repetition of the price. The Sheriff of Forfar 
found that, though no warranty was given, still the seller 
was aware of the purchaser’s intention with the horse, and 
being cognisant of the spavin, knew that such a disease 
would impair the usefulness of the horse, and consequently 
ordained that the purchaser get back his money and the 
seller his horse! 
If this decision be accepted in future as a precedent in 
such cases, it will considerably simplify the settlement of 
many a (hitherto) long-standing sore, and at the same time 
protect the innocent and honest man from the mischievous 
tricks of many an “ artful dodger !” 
In the second case to which I refer the defendant sold a 
cow for £16 without any warranty, but he said she was a 
nice cow, a healthy cow, and a cow that stood to calve in 
three or four days, and was consequently just the cow for the 
pursuer, who was in need of one to give milk. At the time 
of delivery the cow, unfortunately, was labouring under 
foot-and-mouth disease, caught in defender’s houses. In a 
short time her lungs became seriously affected with tubercu¬ 
losis, which had evidently been lying dormant in her system, 
and came to light under the sheltering wings of the foot-and- 
mouth disease. In addition to all this, it seemed very 
doubtful whether the cow was in calf or not; in fact, the 
local veterinary inspector gave it as his opinion that she was 
not in calf. Some time about the end of June I was re¬ 
quested to examine the cow, and having done so, I gave a 
certificate of unsoundness for some three months back, during 
which length of time I considered the cow had been labour¬ 
ing under tuberculosis. About the middle of July the cow 
became so much worse that I advised the pursuer to slaughter 
her, which was accordingly done. On post-mortem examina¬ 
tion I found the cow to be about five months gone with calf, 
thus coming to calve about the 1st of December instead of 
the 1st of June ! 
The seller, in his defence, denied giving any sort of war- 
