STABLE FITTINGS. 27 



strong. If they are altogether deprived of light, the optic nerve becomes 

 paralysed and blindness is the result. 



Again, ample light is essential to the cleanliness of the stable. A dark 

 stable may be dirty without the owner finding it out, and, in good truth, 

 most dark stables are dirty, and a dirty stable must be unhealthy. Both 

 eyes and lungs are especially liable to injury from the gases produced by 

 impurity. 



There is an idea that horses put on flesh more rapidly in a dark than 

 in a light stable. It may be so, and it is certain that dealers generally 

 keep their stables somewhat dark. But the main object of the dealer in 

 doing so is, we suspect, to show his horses off to the best advantage to 

 a customer. Horses brought suddenly from comparative darkness into 

 light do not see well at first, and therefore step high in order to avoid 

 possible obstacles in the way. The defective vision so occasioned will 

 scarcely be pleaded as an advantage except for a special purpose such as 

 the above. 



Windows, as distinguished from skylights, are intended for purposes of 

 ventilation as well as for giving light. Skylights, however, can be made 

 to open. 



Air bricks and ventilating openings are all very well in their way, but 

 for all real freshness in stables there is nothing like windows wide open 

 whenever the weather admits. 



Whenever the horses are out at exercise, every door and window should 

 be set wide open. 



Four sorts of windows are commonly used in stables of the better 

 class, namely, 1st, the ordinary sash windows, which, if furnished with 

 ropes and pulleys, so as to let down easily from the top, answer well 

 enough. They are, however, open to the objection, that a direct draught 

 may come on the horses, and on this account it is often necessary to 

 close them altogether at night and in cold windy weather. A couple of 

 panes of perforated glass are useful in such windows. 



2nd. Windows, which turn on a pivot, in the centre. These may be 

 set open to any required degree. They are the cheapest construction, 

 and answer well enough, especially where many small windows are used ; 

 but they are in some degree open to the objection of causing a direct 

 draught on the horses. 



3rd. Windows, which do not open wholly, but are furnished with 

 glass louvres, are used in some stables. They are objectionable, inas- 

 much as they are not calculated to admit a sufficient amount of air. 



4th. Windows working on hinges at the bottom, as shown in the plan 

 annexed, may be made to open to any required degree. They offer every 

 advantage. They afford ample ventilation, and yet do not throw a direct 

 draught on the horses. They should be blocked, so as to prevent their 

 closing within six inches at the top. As no direct draught can come on 

 the horses, when they are closed to this degree, the author thinks that 

 no injurious result can ever arise from their being left open to the above 

 degree at all times and seasons. Plate 8. 



When a stable is furnished, as recommended above, with windows on 



