78 STABLE MANUAL AND HORSE DOCTOR 



time travels through the system. In the case of direct 

 inoculation with the virus, how is the poison conveyed to 

 the other parts from the original sore but through the 

 agency of the contaminated blood ? 



Quitting, however, a strict medical view of the evils of a 

 want of judicious ventilation, we would ask any sensible 

 man to enter one of these hot and pestilential stables at 

 early morning — when the breath of its quadrupedal occu- 

 pants has become an almost putrid exhalation, and the 

 reeking atmosphere damps and saturates the walls — and ask 

 him whether such an atmosphere must not impair vitality, 

 deprive the blood of red colour, and thereby render it unfit 

 to stimulate the heart and feed the other organs through 

 which it circulates. Reflect, too, on the deterioration of the 

 stimulus to the energy of the brain, and thence its evil effects 

 on the digestion, circulation, secretions, and eventually on the 

 wind, endurance, soundness, and temper of the animal, and 

 you will surely see to this important element in the con- 

 struction of your stable. Mr. Karkeek, whose researches on 

 aerial poisons are worthy perusal by every one who loves and 

 values his horse, says on fchis point : " We have frequently 

 observed a kind of balance between the respiration and the 

 digestion ; and he who is a careful observer of horses in a 

 healthy as well as diseased state must have noticed that 

 there is a certain balance between the quantity of vital air 

 received into the lungs, and the quantity of food which can 

 be digested in the stomach." 



Light. — Immediately connected v/ith the subject of 

 ventilation is the kindred topic — light, on which we now 

 propose to say a few words. 



Did the reader ever emerge suddenly from a dark cellar, 

 or cave, or some place whence the sun's rays being excluded, 

 the " palpable obscure," the " darkness visible," had dilated 

 the eye to its utmost, in the endeavour to distinguish 

 surrounding objects ? Let him recall the painful giddiness 

 of the distressing interval when the eye was suddenl}^ called 

 on to contract, and to accommodate itself to the bewildering 

 glare. Now suppose, further, at that instant a stranger, or 

 even an old friend, had saluted 3^ou with a hearty clap on 

 the shoulder, and an exclamation such as "Halloo, old 

 fellow, you seem all abroad ! " Should you consider your- 

 self highly to be reprehended, nay, more, deserving of 

 corporal punishment, if, under such circumstances, you 



