No. 4.] STABLE DISINFECTION. 371 



to destroy disease-producing organisms, several days or 

 weeks might be required to accomplish the same thing by 

 diffuse light. 



Sunlight not only acts beneficially in the stable by destroy- 

 ing objectionable micro-organisms that may be present, but 

 it has a beneficial effect upon the animals kept in such a 

 stable. Occasionally we see stables arranged in such a 

 manner that the animals arc placed upon the shady north 

 side, while the sunny south side is used for storage purposes. 

 The action of sunlight upon the animals is to increase the red 

 blood corpuscles and to stimulate and strengthen all the 

 organs of the body. Well-lighted stables are invariably 

 much dryer than dark ones. This is a distinct advantage in 

 favor of keeping the stable clean and the animals in it free 

 from disease. The disease-producing microbes find much 

 more favorable conditions for retention of their vitality or 

 growth and multiplication where the atmosphere contains 

 large quantities of moisture, rather than when it is dry. 

 Ordinary drying is, in fact, all that is necessary to destroy 

 some of the most dangerous germs. This does not apply 

 equally to all ; while Asiatic cholera germs are quickly 

 killed by drying, those of tuberculosis are only slightly 

 affected by it. 



Animals kept in dark, damp, underground stables are much 

 more subject to disease than those kept under better sanitary 

 conditions. This applies to all domestic animals, but more 

 especially to horses, which soon become hidebound, rough- 

 haired, and suffer from coughs, colds, etc. 



Tuberculosis in cattle, glanders and influenza in horses, 

 hog cholera and swine plague in swine, and similar diseases, 

 appear more quickly, spread more rapidly and are much 

 more fatal among animals kept in dark, damp, underground 

 stables than among those kept in light, dry, airy barns. 

 Simple wounds often become unhealthy and gangrenous, 

 leading to a fatal termination, among animals under unsani- 

 tary conditions, whereas, upon those under good hygienic 

 surroundings, they heal quickly. In the first instance they 

 become quickly infected with the organism producing sup- 

 puration, gangrene and blood poisoning, while in the second 

 instance no such infection occurs. 



