SEEIOUS OBJECTIONS. 



545 



of proper ventilation. Usually they are nothing but close 

 boxes, and entirely too small for the number of horses kept 

 in them. The doors and windows are closed, and the bed- 

 ding, saturated with ammonia, is tucked away under the 

 manger. If there is an upper flooring, it is made the re- 

 ceptacle for hay, so that it not only obstructs any possible 

 ventilation through the stable, but by becoming impreg- 

 nated with the poisoned air below, it is rendered unfit for 

 food. Any one going into such a stable, especially during 



Fig. 304. — The accepted iiiethud iu geueral use. 



warm weather, will have the eyes immediately affected by 

 the escape of ammonia, which, with the contamination oi 

 the air caused by being breathed over and over, makes it 

 even sickening to breathe any length of time. 



It is evident that to supply the wear and tear of bodily 

 structure, the food must not only be good, but of sufficient 

 quantity to supply nourishment to the body. Now a horse 

 can live days, and even weeks, without food, while he can- 

 not liA^e five minutes without air. 



It is needless to enter into details as to the quantity of 

 air a horse breathes in any given time, as every intelligent 

 reader has a good idea of this ; but the fact that a horse 



35 



