LIGHT. 1-J7 



as the eyes are concerned, a dark stable is little less injurious than a foul 

 and heated one. Comfort, cleanliness, and health, are all connected -vvath 

 this question ; and why stables are not as well lighted as any of the rooms 

 in dwelling-houses, it is not easy to say — the idea of too much light 

 being in any way injurious is ridiculous ; horses, as well as men, in a 

 state of nature, live in clear open daylight ; and there is no reason why, 

 in a state of domesticity, one should not do so as well as the other. A 

 great proportion of stables are dark, foul, and unliealthy ; the two latter 

 states often depending, to a considerable extent, on the former ; foi", was 

 sufficient Hght admitted, the causes of the latter would be more evident 

 and their accumulation would be prevented ; but, as it is, both in to^vn 

 and the country, darkness covers a multitu.de of sins, even, in many 

 respects, in otherwise well-ordered establishments. In order to illustrate 

 this, reference may be made to the unpleasant feeling, and the utter 

 impossibihty of seeing distinctly, when a man suddenly emerges from a 

 dark place into the full blaze of day. The sensation of mingled jjain and 

 giddiness is not soon forgotten ; and some minutes pass before the eye can 

 accommodate itself to the increased Hght. If this were to hai^pen every 

 day, or several times in the day, the sight would be irreparably injured, 

 or possibly blindness would ensue. Can we wonder, then, that the horse, 

 taken from a dark stable into a glare of Hght, feeling, probably, as we 

 should do under similar circumstances, and unable for a considerable 

 time to see anything around him distinctly, should become a starter, or 

 that the frequently repeated violent effect of sudden light should induce 

 inflammation of the eye so intense as to terminate in blindness ? There 

 is, indeed, no doubt that horses kept in dark stables are frequently 

 notorious starters, and that abominable habit has been pro^ierly traced to 

 this cause. 



Farmei's know, and should profit by the knowledge, that the darkness 

 of the stable is not unfrequently a cover for great uncleanliness. A glazed 

 window, Avith leaden divisions between the small panes, would not cost 

 much, and would admit a degree of light somewhat more approaching to 

 that of day, and at the same time would render the concealment of gross 

 inattention and want of cleanliness impossible. 



If plenty of light is admitted, the walls of the stable, and especially that 

 portion of them which is before the horse's head, must not be of too 

 glaring a colour. The constant reflection from a white wall, and especially 

 if the sun shines into the stable, will be as injurious to the eye as the 

 sudden changes from darkness to Hght. The perpetual slight excess 

 of stimulus will do as much mischief as the occasional but more violent 

 one when the animal is taken from a kind of twilight to the blaze of day. 

 The colour of the stable, therefore, should depend on the quantity of light. 

 ^Yliere much can be admitted, the walls should be of a grey hue. Where 

 darkness would otherwise prevail, frequent whitewashing may in some 

 degi'ee dissipate the gloom. 



For another reason, it will be evident that the stable should not possess 

 too glaring a light : it is the resting-place of the horse. In the quietness 

 of a dimly-Hghted stable he obtains repose, and accumulates flesh and fat. 

 Dealers ai-e perfectly aware of this. They have their darkened stables, in 

 which the young horse, ■with little or no exercise, and fed upon mashes 

 and ground corn, is made up for sale. The round and plump appearance, 

 however, which may delude the unwary, soon vanishes with altered treat- 

 ment, and the animal is found to be unfit for hard work, and predisposed 

 to many an inflammatory disease. The circumstances, then, under which 

 a stable somewhat darkened may be allowed, Avill be easily determined by 

 the OAvncr of the hoj'se ; but, as a general rule, dark stables are unfriendly 



