052 
VETERINARY JURISPRUDENCE. 
on the downs, a portion of Salisbury Plain in fact. It was a thousand 
feet above the level of the sea, precisely on a level with Bratton Castle. 
It was on the chalk, and very dry indeed. No sheep that he had ever 
heard of had been fluked there. The sheep went on to that land the 
night they arrived, and remained there till the 15th or 16th of 
February, when they were taken away for lambing. They were then 
put into a standing pen pitched for the purpose, and they were bedded 
with wheat straw every day. That was also a very dry place. The first 
ewe died on the 14th February. He thought it was a mere chill, and 
paid very little attention to it, as they were supposed to lose six or seven 
per cent, in lambing. Two more died on the 6th March, and up to the 
9th of June he had lost 62 out of the ICO and about 70 of their lambs, 
lie sold the remainder in Frome Market, and they realised £38, from 
which £1 expenses had to be deducted. He was put to considerable 
expense owing to the ewes having no milk, and having to get two 
milch cows. Two extra men were also required, and with other expenses 
he had lost about £50, besides the difference between the £164 paid for 
the sheep and the £37 realised for the remainder in Frome Market. 
The best sheep in the flock died on the 9th April, and he had it opened 
and the liver sent to Mr. Day. On the 10th he wrote to Mr. Butler, 
and on the 15th he saw him in Devizes Market, and told him the sheep 
had the bane very bad. 
Witness added that he told Mr. Butler that in the opinion of the 
veterinary surgeon all the sheep would die, and that if he (Mr. 
Butler) would appoint some person he would do the same, and they 
would settle it in that way. He advised him to think it over till the 
following Tuesday, which would be Devizes Green Fair day, and Mr. 
Butler said he would do so. He accordingly saw him at the fair, and he 
said, “He had made up his mind to do nothing; do as you like.” 
Witness replied, “ If that is your mind we must have a fair fight for it. 
It’s useless for us to stand here and argue the matter ourselves.” He 
then put the matter into his solicitor’s hands, and the letters referred 
to by the learned counsel passed between them. On the 7th May Mr. 
Butler, accompanied by Mr. Beasley, veterinary surgeon, went to his 
farm, and he (witness) had Mr. James, veterinary surgeon, of Frome, 
waiting to meet them. Mr. Beasely removed a fluke one and a half 
inches long from one of the sheep that had died. There was any 
amount of them. Mr. Beasley then turned round to him and said, “ I 
hope you and my friend will settle this matter.” Defendant made no 
observation. He (plaintiff) had three other flocks on the farm. He had 
had them longer. He invited Mr. Butler and Mr. Beasley to look at 
them, and they saw one lot, which Mr. Beasley said were perfectly 
sound. They had all been kept on the same land within a few yards. 
In the cross-examination by Mr. Collins he said he had been a farmer 
thirty years. He had also a farm at Swindon, on which he had lived 
sixteen years, but that was not a sheep farm. He had about 400 sheep 
altogether at Upton Scudamore, including 154 ewes, besides those 
bought of Mr. Butler. He had two lots of tegs, about a year old now, 
which were bought in September and October. He had lost thirteen 
ewes before he complained. They were fed on the best hay that he 
could obtain, and had as much as they could eat. He had not lost 
one animal from rot except those of the flock he bought at Marlborough. 
He was not a dealer in sheep, except as a farmer. He bought thirty 
lambs and sold some of them again to a person named Morris. He 
bought them at an agricultural repository auction at Frome, and he 
meant to take them home, but some of them never got there. Many 
