240 CENTURY OF ENGLISH FOX-HUNTING 



size of the stable) ventilating shafts in the roof 

 itself, and one or more on each side of the stable 

 near the top of the walls. These should have what 

 is termed ' lower boards ' and cords to allow of 

 their being opened or closed, wholly or partially as 

 desired. Furthermore, there should be ventilating 

 gratings a few inches from the floor on all the 

 walls, and these should also be furnished with closing 

 bars, so that they can be kept open or shut." * So 

 far so good. The recommendation is an excellent 

 one for cavalry stables, where there is constant super- 

 vision ; but in many private stables, if there were a 

 hundred ventilators, the grooms would never dream 

 of opening one of them, and the stables would be 

 still found reeking with foul air, laying the seeds for 

 every imaginable form of lung disease. Of this, 

 however, I shall deal when I write about the different 

 relations between master and man which existed at 

 the beginning and at the end of the century. 



In regard to the windows of a stable, our fore- 

 fathers had the better of us. They invariably used 

 lattice windows, instead of those made of squares 

 of glass, which we see in modern stables. Not only 

 have the old-fashioned lattice windows a more sports- 

 manlike appearance, but their make and frame shield 

 the glare of the sun from the horses' eyes better than 

 the plain glass. If the aspect of the stable is south 

 or south-west, the windows should be behind the 



* Through the Stable and Saddle-room, by Major ARTHUR Thomas 

 Fisher. Bentley, 1890. 



