MILITAEY HYGIENE 939 



Purchasers of army horses must approach the question 

 in a practical spirit. Some tell us a cavalry horse should 

 be of the hunter class, others look out for the activity of 

 the polo pony, a combination of qualities of the utmost 

 value, but how often can either the one or the other be 

 obtained for the sum of £38 ? 



Stables at Home and Abroad. — The general arrangement 

 of stables in barracks has undergone immense improve- 

 ments during the last forty years. Prior to that time the 

 type of stable constructed is that which is seen in section 

 at Pig. 95, p. 289, but the Barrack and Hospital Improve- 

 ment Commission, which did so much to improve the 

 sanitary condition of the soldier's life, was also the means 

 of doing permanent good work in connection with horses. 



The ground-plan of a stable shown in Fig. 117, p. 809, 

 was devised by the Commission, and in fact the details we 

 have given of industrial stables, p. 308, are based entirely 

 on the recommendations of this Commission, which after 

 40 years' experience have been proved of permanent value. 



Large cubic and superficial space, light, ventilation, im- 

 pervious flooring, a double row of horses between opposite 

 sources of air, and open- roofed stables instead of the men 

 living overhead, were the outcome of this Commission. 



There are no army stables in Europe superior in excel- 

 lence of design and sanitary detail to these. Each troop 

 horse gets 1,605 cubic feet of space and 100 superficial feet 

 of area. The stalls are 5 feet 6 inches wide, 9 feet 6 inches 

 in length, and the passage between the stalls 14 feet in 

 width. The windows, of which there is one to each horse, 

 are 8 feet 4 inches high, and 2 feet 6f inches wide. 



Hospital stalls are larger ; 1,900 cubic feet of space and 

 187 square feet of area are allowed, while the boxes afford 

 2,700 cubic feet, and 204 square feet of area. Each hospital 

 stall has a window 2 feet 8 inches by 2 feet 6 inches over the 

 animal's head, and a row of windows in the opposite wall ; 

 unlike the troop stables, there is only a single row of horses 

 in the hospital stalls. 



In India the stables consist of a roof, pillars, and a deep 



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