VENlMLAtlOK AND CONSTllUCTlOX OP STABLES. 5 



argue that six times greater space, or 3000 cubic feet, would be required 

 for each horse in a stable. 



Various circumstances, however, modify this calculation. The horse 

 is not fed on animal food, and therefore the emanations given off from 

 his body are less noxious than those proceeding from human beings ; 

 and, again, as he is far less susceptible of injury from draught or cold 

 than man, it is possible to give to stables a greater degree of ventilation 

 than would be tolerable in a room ; and lastly, and chiefly, the horse 

 cannot, as men too often do, close the means of ventilation. 



Arguing from the experience gained in barrack stables and elsewhere, 

 the author believes that with the concomitants of good ventilation, good 

 drainage and paving, light and cleanliness, 1200 cubic feet, with a ground 

 area of about 87 feet per horse, are sufficient for the maintenance of 

 health. But no amount of cubical space, however great, will secure 

 pure air, unless the plan of the construction of the stable and the venti- 

 lation is good. See pars. 11 and 12. 



But, in regard to cab-horse stables, it must be remembered that the 

 horses stand in the open nearly half of the twenty-four hours. As a 

 general rule, cab stables are very well ventilated, clean, and well drained. 

 Cab owners have learned by experience to be excessively particular about 

 ventilation, cleanliness, and drainage. In many cab stables which the 

 author has visited the windows have been wholly removed, and the doors 

 are left wide open all night. Of late years there has been a very 

 great and general improvement in the health, condition, and management 

 of cab horses. 



In the first edition of this book, the author expressed his opinion that\ 

 the average duration of the London cab horse, from one cause and 

 another, or probably from many causes combined, did not exceed two 

 and a half years. He is glad to be able to say, from recent observations, 

 that the present average duration is from 3J to 4 years. 



11. Faulty plans of construction in stables. 



Many stables from their construction are difficult to ventilate properly. 

 In some the construction is such that proper ventilation is impossible. 

 In others ventilation is easy enough, but at the expense of an objection- 

 able degree of draught on the horses. Lastly, be the construction what 

 it may, insufficient cubical space necessitates an amount of fresh air 

 passing through the stable in order to keep it sweet, which must make it 

 cold and draughty. 



The six plans annexed will serve to explain our meaning as to faults 

 of construction. 



Plan A is an eight-stall stable of very frequent construction. It has a 

 door and two windows in front. If the windows are large enough, and 

 if the paving and drainage are good and the cubical space sufficient, the 

 construction is not very bad ; but it is open to the objection, that it 

 gives no thorough ventilation, and consequently there is no sufficient 

 circulation of air through the stable. The windows and doors are all on 



