Air and Litter. 91 



be materially lessened ; but if this is effected by means 

 of gutters and a descending floor, the descent must be 

 barely sufficient to cause the fluid to escape, as, if the 

 toes are kept higher than the heels, it will lead to 

 lameness, and is also a frequent cause of contraction of 

 the foot. Stalls of this kind certainly do best for 

 mares ; but for horses we much j^refer those with a 

 grating in the centre, and a slight inclination of the 

 floor on every side towards the middle. A short 

 branch may communicate with a larger drain, by 

 means of which the urine may be carried off to a 

 reservoir outside the stable. Traps are now contrived, 

 and may be procured at little expense, by means of 

 which neither any offensive smell nor current of air 

 can pass through the grating. 



AIR AST) LITTER. 



The breathing of pure air is necessary to the ex- 

 istence and the health of man and beast. It is com- 

 paratively lately that this has been admitted even in 

 the management of our best stables. 



If the stable is close, the air will not only be hot, but 

 foul. The breathing of every animal contaminates it ; 

 and when, in the course of the night, with every 

 aperture stopped, it passes again and again through 

 the lungs, the blood cannot undergo its proper and 

 healthy change ; digestion will not be so perfectly per- 

 formed, and all the functions of life are injured. 



Every stable should possess within itself a certain 

 degree of ventilation. The cost of this would be 

 trifling, and its saving in the preservation of valuable 

 animals will be immense. The appertures need not 



