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Reclaiming Note Page 6

6

been obvious to anyone inspecting the said bottle before the ginger-beer was put into it. In any event, the said trail of the snail should easily have been discovered on the bottle before the bottle was sealed, and a proper (or indeed any) inspection would have revealed the presence of the said trail and the said snail, and the said bottle of ginger-beer with the snail in it would not have been placed for sale in the said shop. Further, the defender well knew, or in any event ought to have known, that small animals like mice or snails left in aerated-water (including ginger-beer), and decomposing there, render aerated-water exceedingly dangerous and harmful to persons drinking the contaminated aerated-water. Accordingly, it was his obvious duty to provide clear ginger-beer bottles, so as to facilitate the said system of inspection. In this duty also the defender culpably failed, and the said accident was the direct result of his said failure in duty. If the defender and his said servants had carried out their said duties the pursuer would not have suffered the said shock and illness. The averments in answer are denied.

Ans. 3. Denied. Explained that the system employed at the defender's factory is the best known in the trade, and no bottle of ginger-beer has ever passed out therefrom containing a snail. The defender exercised every care in the carrying out of that system, and every stage of the processes are and have been properly executed by the defender's servants.

    COND. IV. The pursuer suffered severe shock and a prolonged illness in consequence of the said fault of the defender and his servants. She suffered from sickness and nausea which persisted. Her condition became worse, and on 29th August 1928 she had to consult a doctor. She was then suffering from gastroenteritis induced by the said snail-infected ginger-beer. Even while under medical attention she still became worse, and on 16th September 1928 had to receive emergency treatment at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary. She vomited repeatedly, and suffered from acute pain in the stomach, and from mental depression. She was rendered unfit for her employment. She

Reclaiming Note Page 6

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