436 
JURISPRUDENCE. 
from disease, accident or work, a veterinary surgeon in giving his certi¬ 
ficate had much better describe the actual state of the horse, and the 
probable consequences without mentioning soundness or unsoundness at 
all, and so let the purchaser buy him or not as he may be advised. Be¬ 
cause in such a case a straightforward statement would be made, and a 
man in the veterinary profession would not be called upon in an off¬ 
hand manner to decide questions which are of the greatest ni'cety, being 
full of uncertainty and upon which no conclusive decision can safely 
be arrived at. For we find the greater the difficulty the more likely is a 
decision (if come to at all), to be the result of a slight preponderance 
of one over each of many conflicting opinions.” 
Our position, however, is materially different where we are called 
upon, as experts, or in disputed cases, merely to decide whether or not 
the animal is sound within the meaning of the law of warranty. 
For instance, a gentleman bargains with a dealer for a horse, to pay 
a certain price on condition that he is perfectly sound. 'The veterinary 
surgeon has nothing whatever to do with the conditions of the sale, the 
suitableness of the animal, or the price paid ; he is merely to examine 
carefully the horse, and if, in his opinion, he considers the animal free 
from all the defects or diseases which are held to be unsoundnesses, 
then his duty is to certify that the horse is sound in his opinion ; or in 
cases where the purchaser having a warranty of soundness, and discov¬ 
ering that the horse is not sound, submits him to the veterinary surgeon 
to decide the question, you must not take anything into consideration 
but the actual fact of the presence or absence of what constitutes un¬ 
soundness, and give a certificate accordingly. W. Mavor, of London, 
(in the Horseman s Manual , p. 9), says : “ I consider a horse to be 
sound which is perfect in structure and perfect in function. I also 
consider a horse to be sound though with alterations in the structure, 
provided he has never been either lame or incapacitated (and is not 
likely to become lame or incapacitated) for performing the ordinary 
duties to which he may be subjected in consequence of such alteration, 
and can perform them with equal facility as if there had been no such 
alteration of structure.” 
According to Chief Justice Eyre, “ A horse laboring under a tem¬ 
porary injury or hurt which is capable of being speedily cured or re¬ 
moved, is not for that an unsound horse within the meaning of the war¬ 
ranty ;” an opinion differed from by Lord Ellenborough, who distinct¬ 
ly lays down that “ to constitute unsoundness it is not essential that the 
infirmity be of a permanent nature, it is sufficient if it render the ani- 
