VENTILATION OF STABLES. 47 



hot, damp, and sickly smell they seem to revel in, and it is all 

 the more enjoyable if it be so impregnated with the fumes of 

 ammonia as to tickle the olfactory nerves of the chance visitor, 

 and bring tears to his eyes. Such a sweltering, suffocating 

 atmosphere cannot be good for man or beast. And as evi- 

 dence that it is pernicious to the mistaken individuals who 

 indulge in it, we have but to look at their pale, pasty counte- 

 nances, and the general unhealthy condition of many of them ; 

 while as to their unlucky charges, the proof that they suffer 

 much more is to be found in the fact, that they are the most 

 remunerative patients the veterinary surgeon has, as they 

 most frequently, and for the longest periods, require his 

 attention. 



The amount of gaseous and organic impurity in the air of 

 stables can only be determined by chemical analysis. The 

 most dangerous of the gases is the carbonic acid given off by 

 the lungs and skin, and which, when more than a most minute 

 percentage is present in the atmosphere, is injurious, and even 

 poisonous ; while the amount of it in stables is also an indica- 

 tion of the likewise hurtful organic matter suspended in the 

 atmosphere of these places. The carbonic acid in well-venti- 

 lated stables should not amount to more than -6 per 1,000 

 cubic feet of air ; if it exceeds this, then ventilation is defective, 

 and the horses are inhaling an impure atmosphere. How 

 impure and destructive this may be, in some instances, is 

 shown by the fact that 1 per 1,000 renders the air of a room 

 " odious and unwholesome," and offensive and oppressive to 

 the persons breathing it; while in some stables, the air of 

 which has been examined, it has been found as high as 2 '65 

 per 1,000, and even 7, 8J, and 17 per 1,000 in stables on the 

 Continent. 



It is astonishing that horses can exist at all in such places ; 

 and doubtless they escape speedy death by being out at work 

 in the open air for some hours, in the course of the day. 



