THE HORSE. 91 



dations ; and indeed, these may be attained on a very 

 moderate scale, in the greater part of the most import- 

 ant particulars. In the ordinary stables of crowded 

 towns, it is far otherwise ; and the proprietors or oc- 

 cupiers of such, and their horses, must put up with 

 such accommodations as they can find or provide. 

 Doubtless there are public and livery stables in the 

 Metropolis, roomy, airy, and comfortable to the horse, 

 and upon an improved plan with regard to essentials, 

 and with ample and comfortable length and width of 

 stall room. As to the lower kind of London stables, 

 I have already spoken of their comfortless state and 

 misery, calculated rather to increase than alleviate the 

 pains and weariness of animals, distressed and tor- 

 tured by incessant labour. Good grooming, so in- 

 dispensable, cannot be expected in such places ; and 

 yet I have known persons of property unacquainted 

 with, or inattentive to these considerations, intrust 

 their horses to such. " Horses, in the above con- 

 fined situations, are ever liable to grease, scratches, 

 thrushes, fevers, blindness, colds, rheumatisms, con- 

 tractions of the sinews, hardness and surbating of 

 the hoofs, broken wind, and a thousand ails, for 

 which the veterinary nomenclature has not yet pro- 

 vided distinctions." 



The chief, or perhaps only improvement, of which 

 ordinary stables are susceptible, seems to refer to the 

 flooring, or pavement, the draining, the- attention to 

 cleanliness and ventilation. The ancients generally 

 floored their stables with stone ; but in England, 

 oaken planks laid crosswise were formerly in use. 

 Stone and clinker pavements succeeded, and too often 



