156 Veterinary Elements. 



should then be kept closed to visitors; in the majority of 

 cases plenty of light is beneficial, one reason being that 

 light is harmful to germs. 



The floor may be of earth, well packed, plank or con- 

 crete, the latter of course is the easiest to cleanse thor- 

 oughly; in any case all stalls should be well bedded; in 

 this connection it must be remembered that bedding 

 soiled with the feces (dung) or saturated with the urine 

 should not be allowed to accumulate in the stall. The 

 large quantities of free ammonia in the stalls of geldings 

 cannot but fail to have an injurious effect on their eyes, 

 besides being wasteful of a valuable manure constituent. 

 Gypsum sprinkled in the stall and stable will help over- 

 come the difficulty after the soiled bedding is removed 

 and before fresh, clean material is brought in. If the 

 patient is very weak or lame cut straw will be preferable 

 to the long article. In cases in which artificial warmth 

 cannot be got, clothing must be used, such must be light, 

 warm and fastened on securely; heavy clothing often 

 does more harm than good. In this connection may be 

 mentioned the absurd practice (especially in cold coun- 

 tries) of applying blankets wet with boiling water, un- 

 wrung, or bags of hot, wet bran; if heat has to be 

 applied, have the blankets wrung out well and over them 

 apply a waterproof sheet; hot, dry bran may also be used. 

 Care must always be taken that the patient does not be- 

 come chilled after the application of warmth. 



The attention given the patient will include feeding, 

 watering, giving medicine, taking pulse rate, tempera- 

 tures and respirations, together with the use of enemas 

 or the application of poultices, etc. 



