VETERINARY HOSPITALS. 25 



Provision of personnel and accommodation for Veterinary 

 Hospitals and Convalescent Horse Depots on L. of C. in the 

 B.E.F., France, was on the basis of 10 per cent, sick of the 

 Force : 7 per cent, of this was Veterinary Hospital and 3 

 per cent. Convalescent Horse Depot. Two per cent, was the 

 normal amount of minor sickness maintained at the Front. 

 In November 191.5 the L. of C. provision was cut down to 

 8 per cent., but so heavy were the casualties and so great the 

 congestion and overcrowding that a return to the 10 per cent, 

 basis was forced upon us. At one time as many as 45,000 

 sick animals had to be cared for on L. of C. and it will 

 readily be realised that the provision of accommodation for 

 this number placed no light tax both on the Military Works 

 and Veterinary Services. Accommodation for 39,600 sick 

 and convalescent animals was actually provided, and this 

 amount would never have been reached if Veterinary Service 

 had not accepted the principle of rendering assistance in 

 personnel to the Military Works Service in the construction 

 of their installations. The man-power situation absolutely 

 necessitated it, and there was the constantly burning desire 

 to get the sick under cover during inclement weather, which 

 seemed ever to prevail. It is necessary in this article to 

 dilate somewhat on stable construction, as the success of 

 treatment greatly depended on hygienic surroundings and 

 suitable facilities for work, and there are one or two items 

 that I would specially like to mention. 



Lay-out Plan. This was in blocks of 250 standings on the 

 sub-divisional basis above mentioned, the lines of stabling being 

 double, with a partition between. The lines . were thirty-six 

 feet apart, with an alley way of nine feet behind the animals, 

 the rest of the space being laid away to grass. Two stalls 

 could be converted into one loose box or enclosure if desired, 

 and at the end of each line was an expense forage store. Eoads 

 between blocks were a first consideration, and it was necessary 

 to limit the movement of animals and transport, otherwise a 

 quagmire was the result. Each block had its own dressing 

 sheds, forge, water troughs, etc., so that they were separate 

 entities in view of any outbreak of contagious disease. Mangers 

 were of continuous iron sheeting and could be easily disinfected. 



