THE DISEASES OF CATTLE. 78 



floor. This plan is a simple one, and the great chemist real- 

 ized that all the operations of nature in this direction were con- 

 ducted on an apparently grand, yet simple scheme, that of mo- 

 tion. He contemplated the benefits derived from the gentle 

 zephyr, and the more refreshing breeze, and periodical currents 

 of wind from region to region, and he was led to exclaim, that 

 a fixed atmosphere, or one without motion, was the bane of vi- 

 tality. Hence we are to understand that in order to purify 

 the atmosphere of our dwellings, houses, barns, and stables, we 

 must give it motion, for without motion, it will become filthy, 

 like a puddle of stagnant water. The world's progress and 

 man's ambition have rendered the means of ventilation more 

 complicated and costly, yet the principles are the same and 

 ever will be. 



I contend that every dollar spent in insuring a thorough sys- 

 tem of ventilation in barns and stables, '''"pays ; " it is an in- 

 vestment which tends to keep animals healthy, for it is a 

 bulwark of defence against many forms of pulmonary diseases : 

 it keeps the battle and spontaneous pneumonia separate : it 

 curtails doctors' bills, and puts a stop to the barbarisms known 

 as horn-boring and tail-docking, and at the same time, should 

 the cow have an accidental cough, pure, cool air, is the best 

 cough medicine in the world, and as it costs but little, it is 

 worth a fair trial. 



I intimated at the commencement of this article that my 

 intentions were to offer some suggestions, which might, possibly, 

 benefit the husbandman, — the autocrat of th^ destinies of the 

 domesticated animal, — and in view of accomplishing some 

 good in this direction, with an intention of showing, to a certain 

 extent, how a sound mind can be secured in a healthy consti- 

 tution, I crave the reader's indulgence while I introduce a few 

 paragraphs, rather foreign to cattle practice. 



A house, barn, or stable, not ventilated should be considered 

 as untenantable as the notorious " Hack hole " of Calcutta ; no 

 intelligent, hard-worked, over-burdened, or over-milked ani- 

 mal should ever be permitted to drag out a miserable existence 

 in a fashionable air-tight swamp ; which, however, might an- 

 7 



