188 VETERINARY HYGIENE 



ing them up as the building proceeds. Hollow walls are doubly 

 beneficial; they keep the building dry, and they also keep it warm 

 by reducing the amount of moisture to be evaporated. 



The heating of animal habitations will always be a matter of 

 great difficulty, owing to the expense involved ; in fact, the heating 

 of cow byres is usually accomplished by reducing the ventilation 

 and raising the temperature of the byre by conserving the heat 

 given off by the cattle, a method which is detrimental to the health 

 of the animals and strongly to be condemned. Hollow walls are 

 peculiarly suitable for cow byres and other animal habitations in 

 this connection. 



THE RECONSTRUCTION OF INSANITARY BUILDINGS. 



The conversion of insanitary animal-houses into buildings that 

 will meet with modern requirements is not the least difficult of the 

 veterinary hygienist's problems. The reconstruction of buildings 

 may be very simple so that but little alteration may effect a great 

 improvement or the necessary renovation may be so great as to 

 require practically a complete remodelling. Unfortunately, in 

 many cases where a cow-shed has been " improved " and altered at 

 considerable expense the most important points have been neglected, 

 while undue attention and unnecessary money have been expended 

 upon non-essential details. Occasionally mistakes are committed 

 that show an astonishing ignorance of modern hygiene. Thus in 

 a small byre on a private estate that was " reconstructed " by a 

 contractor, the length of the stalls was measured from the front of 

 the mangers instead of from the wall so that they were made 2 feet 

 too long, with the result that it was impossible to keep the cows clean. 

 The standings were made level throughout so that they were con- 

 stantly wet. The dung channel was laid with insufficient gradient. 

 These and many lesser defects combined to spoil what might have 

 been a most satisfactory cow-shed. Want of knowledge concerning 

 modern ventilating methods often leads to unfortunate errors on the 

 part of the proprietor. For instance, when roofs are rebuilt, instead 

 of taking advantage of the occasion to make simple yet efficient 

 ventilation at the ridge, usually a few T tile ventilating cans are 

 deemed sufficient, as was the idea a century ago. 



Animal-houses may be condemned as insanitary for a variety 

 of reasons. It may be that their location in a city is undesirable 

 owing to their contiguity to human dwellings, together with their 

 general insanitary condition. Reconstruction in such instances is 

 often out of the question and the buildings have to be vacated. In 



