M'Farland v. Newman
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
ERROR to the common pleas of Fayette county. Newman, the plaintiff below, brought an action of assumpsit against M’Farland on an alleged warranty of a horse passed to him as sound in all respects, but the colt-distemper.
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ERROR to the common pleas of Fayette county. Newman, the plaintiff below, brought an action of assumpsit against M’Farland on an alleged warranty of a horse passed to him as sound in all respects, but the colt-distemper. It was proved that the horse had a defluxion from the nose at the time of the bargain; that M’Farland assured Newman it was no more than the ordinary distemper to which colts are subject; and that it had been of only a few days’ continuance: whereas it -was testified that the horse had exhibited the same symptoms all the time M’Farland had him, (a period of ten or eleven…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
Gibson, C. J.
On no subject have the decisions been so anomalous, as on warranty of chattels; and an attempt to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion about any principle supposed to be settled by them, would be hopeless, if not absurd. Of such jarring materials have they been compounded, that it is impossible to extract from them any principle of general application; and we are left by them in the predicament of mariners compelled to correct their dead reckoning by an observation. The civil law maxim is, doubtless, that a sound article is warranted by a…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Borrekins v. Bevan & PorterSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1831
- Harper v. KeanSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1824
3Cited by29 opinions
- Dushane v. BenedictSupreme Court of the United States · 1887
- Maynes v. AtwaterSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1879
- Mahaffey v. FergusonSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1893
- McCormack v. JermynSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1944
- Michelin Tire Co. v. SchulzSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1928
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