THE SIMPLE LIFE 241 



some of the more violent infectious diseases, such 

 as plague, cholera, and perhaps diphtheria. The 

 creatures which mainly succumb to plague, and carry 

 its germs, are precisely those whose lucifugous and 

 filthy habits withdraw them most from fresh air and 

 sunshine namely, rats. It is also well known that 

 where foxes are much hunted, and therefore carry 

 their food into the earths, and lie there by day, 

 parasitic disease, especially mange, is often rife among 

 them. Experiments have recently been made in 

 fattening sheep under cover, the object being not to 

 promote health, but to obtain a rapid deposit of flesh. 

 But it was found that at first the deprivation of 

 exercise, air, and natural light upset their system so 

 much that there was a doubt for some weeks whether 

 the experiment would pay, even from the limited 

 point of view from which it was begun. 



One of the first scientific protests against dark and 

 damp stables was made by the late Sir William Flower, 

 who, in closing his popular lectures on the horse, drew 

 attention to the fact that the natural conditions for 

 equine health were hard soil, open air, a bright sun, 

 dry food, and constant exercise. By far the greater 

 number of so-called common colds and chills in 

 horses are caused by placing them in close stables 

 after having been turned out in the open, not by 

 turning them out in the open from warm stables. 

 The only wonder is that under domestication our 

 horses have not suffered more from the unnatural 

 conditions in which many of them are kept. Probably 

 the long hours of daily work prevent them from 



Q 



