286 VETEKINAEY HYGIENE 



but as it overlaps the question of drainage, it will be con- 

 sidered in dealing with that subject. (See Disposal of 

 Excreta.) 



We must now enter more fully into the special arrange- 

 ment of buildings intended for animals ; up to the present 

 we have only been considering the general principles 

 applicable to all. 



Stables. 



In no class of building have such sanitary improvements 

 been made in the last forty years as in stables. The view 

 is no longer held that anyplace is 'good enough for horses,' 

 and many of the structures and interior decorations of high 

 class stables leave nothing to be desired (Fig. 89). Some 

 of the interiors of high class stables are not only arranged 

 on sanitary principles, but the fittings are an object of art. 

 A revolution has been accomplished in industrial stables in 

 recent years. They are now frequently well lighted, paved, 

 drained, ventilated, with ample cubic space and superficial 

 area, and no more than these can be desired for any 

 structure (Pig. 90). 



In other words, a change has come over public opinion 

 in these matters, and this has been gradually but silently 

 effected by the veterinary profession, in spite of it having 

 to deal with the narrowest minded and most conservative 

 class of human being.* 



Stables may conveniently be considered under three 

 classes : viz., high class, middle class, and industrial 

 stables. 



* No doubt the care of horses is the work of a skilled labourer, the 

 ordinary horse owner knows nothing of the subject, and places himself 

 unreservedly in the hands of his servant. The latter soon exercises a 

 despotism over the owner, so that the groom or coachman's word and 

 opinion become law, and are observed as such throughout the length 

 and breadth of the kingdom. 



The farmer is no less narrow and conservative, but thanks to a better 

 educated class interesting themselves in agriculture, and to the excellent 

 schools in which they have been trained, opposition to reform is greatly 

 reduced, and our work made correspondingly easier. 



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