136 



ill- ventilated places, is it wonderful that it shonld 

 rapidly spread among them, and that the plague 

 spot should be, as it were, placed on the door of such 

 a stable? When distemper appears in spring, or 

 autumn, it is in very many cases to be traced to 

 such a pest house. It is peculiarly fatal there. The 

 horses belonging to a small establishment, rationally 

 treated, have it comparatively seldom, or have it 

 lightly. But among the inmates of a crowded stable 

 it is sure to display itself, and there it is most fatal. 

 The experience of every veterinary surgeon, and of 

 every large proprietor of horses, will corroborate 

 this statement. Every stable should possess within 

 itself a certain degree of ventilation. The cost of 

 this would be trifling, and its saving in the preser- 

 vation of valuable animals may be immense. The 

 apertures need not be large, and the whole may be 

 so contrived that no direct current of air shall fall 

 on the horse. A gentleman's stable should never 

 be without a thermometer. The temperature should 

 seldom exceed 70 '^ in the summer, or sink below 

 40 ^ or 50 ^ in the winter. 



I^itter. 



Having spoken of the vapor of hartsorn, which is 

 so rapidly and so plentifully given out from the 

 urine of the horse in a heated stable, I next take in- 

 to consideration the subject of litter. The first 

 caution is frequently to remove it. The early ex- 

 trication of gas shows the rapid putrification of the 



