WARMTH. 157 



FOURTH CHAPTER 



WARMTH. 



HOT STABLES have been condemned by every veterinarian 

 who has had occasion to mention them. They have been 

 blamed for producing debility, inflamed lungs, diseased eyes, 

 chronic cough, and recent cough, distemper, and some other 

 evils, direct or indirect ; and a cold stable has been recom- 

 mended, times out of number, for preventing them. I have 

 elsewhere stated, that a hot stable and a foul stable have al- 

 ways been confounded one with another, as if they were not 

 different. Mr. Youatt is the only exception that I know of. 

 He seems to regard a heated and an impure atmosphere as 

 two. IJis distinction is not, indeed, very broadly marked, yet 

 it can be traced. It is not wonderful that it should have been 

 overlooked by others. Heat and impurity, almost uniform- 

 ly arising from the same source, must as uniformly co-exist 

 and operate in combination. Hence the common error of con 

 sidering them as inseparable, or as a single agent. It must 

 be obvious, however, that a heated atmosphere is capable of 

 producing one series of effects, and an impure atmosphere 

 another. The evils arising from impurity are described in 

 connexion with the ventilation of stables. This is the proper 

 place to consider the effects of heat. There is some difficulty 

 in ascertaining precisely what they are. Some experiments 

 would almost be necessary to arrive at accurate conclusions. 

 We have ample opportunity of examining hot stables, and of 

 observing the health and condition of their occupants. But 

 thes,p hot stables rarely have a pure atmosphere. The air, as 

 I have elsewhere observed, is never perfectly pure in any oc 

 cupied stable ; but by pure I here mean comparatively pure 

 quite wholesome, yet not quite free from extraneous matters 

 An atmosphere of untainted purity can not be obtained in th* 

 neighborhood of breathing animals, and it appears quite cer 

 tain that it may suffer deterioration to a certain extent, without 



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