VETERINARY JURISPRUDENCE. 
501 
is, indeed, too true. He also swore that the mare’s lameness was 
solely attributable to bad shoeing. This part of the evidence 
was rather amusing ; the forge at Islington, I presume, would be 
the right place. However, the public will be the best to judge of 
the value of Mr. Briscoe’s opinion from a perusal of the following 
letters, and more can be added if necessary. It is one of the worst 
cases of cruelty to a poor horse on record, and yet this very humane 
veterinary surgeon thinks “ the society is drawing the strings too 
tight.” Perhaps so. However, we can afford to treat Mr. Briscoe’s 
remarks with the contempt they so well deserve, and I fervently 
hope that our excellent association will continue to flourish long 
after he has passed away. We will now leave him, and —audi 
alteram partem. —Yours, &c., 
Robert Lathbury, 
Hon. Sec. to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty 
to Animals. 
40, Castle-street, May 23, 1864. 
At the request of Robert Lathbury, Esq., on behalf of the Society 
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, I have this day examined 
an aged gray mare (at Garner’s stables), the property of Mr. Edward 
Curran. 
I find an extensive enlargement* on the inside of her near fore 
leg, reaching from the knee down to the fetlock joint, the result of 
her continually hitting it with the off fore foot when at work ; in the 
centre and on the part where the blows are more particularly re¬ 
ceived a large abscess is forming, causing very great pain and lame¬ 
ness when she is forced to move the limb. 
I find a suppurating wound on the front of each fore fetlock 
joint; a wound on the top of her chine, and several smaller wounds 
about her chine and neck, from the pressure of her harness. The 
off hind fetlock is extensively diseased and thickened. She is very 
thin and weak from pain and work, and is, in my opinion, now 
totally unfit for work of any kind whatever. 
John Ellis, M.R.C.Y.S, 
Upper Pitt Street, Liverpool, May 19, 1864. 
20 and 22, Hatton Garden, Liverpool, 
May 21, 1864. 
I certify that I have this day examined an aged gray mare, at the 
request of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, per R. 
Lathbury, Esq., and find a large tumour on the inside of the near 
fore leg, the right hoof striking the enlargement each time the 
animal moves, and causing severe pain. There are also deep wounds 
on both fore fetlock joints. The fetlock joints of the hind legs are 
very much diseased. The animal is totally unfit for work, and of 
the many cases I have examined I believe this to be the worst. 
Gilbert IIeyes, M.R.C.Y.S. 
