STABLE CONSTRUCTION AND FITTINGS. 51 



when heated and tired are really the only changes of temperature which 

 are at all likely to produce sickness. In cold weather the heat and 

 condition of the body should, if necessary, be maintained by extra food 

 or clothing and not by allowing the occupants of a stable to breathe an 

 atmosphere heated by the emanations from their own bodies and the 

 exclusion of fresh air. 



Means for ventilation. — Doors. — Stable doors are valuable additions Means for 

 to, but can hardly be regarded as permanent means of ventilation, since ventila- 

 the tendency is always to keep them shut. They should be kept open as ^°"" 

 much as possible, especially when the stable is empty, so that the floors 

 may be well aerated. When there are doors at each end of the building, 

 one may usually be kept open throughout the day, or, where half doors 

 are fitted, the top half certainly can. 



Windows. — These are the main inlets for fresh air, and to get the full Windows, 

 benefit from them they should be arranged along both outer walls of the 

 stable, one over each stall. Stable windows should be hinged from the lower 

 edge, or centre, so that they may be opened with an inward slant. The 

 " Sheringham," hinged at the lower edge, is the most suitable pattern, and 

 is fitted to all modern troop stables. With windows on each side of the 

 stable, those to the leeward should always be kept open, and in calm 

 weather those on both sides. The amount of inlet space required per 

 horse is not less than one square foot. 



The direction taken by a current of air entering a stable is determined Direction 

 by the slant of the inlet through which it comes, so that with a window taken by 

 sloping inwards it will be thrown up, well over the animals standing ^''^A" 

 immediately underneath ; and since it is somewhat cooler, and therefore ^'^ ^^" 

 heavier than the rest of the stable air, it will descend and be spread 

 among those on the opposite side. The advantage of this is that the 

 air is well diffused and slightly warmed before it reaches the animals, 

 and risk of draught is avoided. 



Loiivre-boards are fitted under the ridge of the roof, and act as Louvre- 

 outlets for the heated foul air. They should be sufficiently broad and boards, 

 overlapping, and set at an angle acute enough to prevent rain beating 

 in. They should be permanently fixed open ; if movable they will 

 always be shut. 



Ventilating cowls and tubes. — With overhead rooms, or where louvre- Ventilat- 

 boards are not fitted to open roofs, the foul air can be extracted by i"g cowls 

 means of various cowls and tubes, which are so constructed that the wind ^"^ tubes 

 passes over an upward slant or through a narrow slit and creates a 

 continual vacuum below, thus drawing up the foul air. Any patterns 

 which permit birds to nest in them, or which do not act equally well 

 (b 10948) D 2 



