REVIEW. 
179 
ceiling; and we think that large stables may be as much as 
fifteen or sixteen feet high with great advantage to their 
inmates. For many years we have been in the habit of 
passing through stables sixteen feet high, and during the 
intensely cold period of 1860-61 we did not experience a 
temperature at all injurious to the health of the horses it 
contained. Likewise, during the hot summer of 1859, 
although this stable faced the south, no unpleasant heat was 
felt. On the contrary, it was often observed by those who 
accidentally passed through it, “ How beautifully cool this 
stable is! 5 ' And it might have been even more so had it 
been, as before suggested, furnished with Venetian blinds, 
which would have prevented, to a great extent, the annoy¬ 
ance which was at times experienced from the flies. We 
therefore cannot but think that our author is wrong when 
he states that no stable should be more than ten and a half 
feet high from the floor to the ceiling. Just fancy a 
horse in a state of nature, with the canopy of heaven as 
his only covering, and an almost unlimited scope of vision, 
and contrast this with his being “cribbed, cabined, and 
confined” in a stall perhaps only five feet wide and ten 
feet high, and in many instances less. Must not such 
be painful to the animal's feelings ? 
Drainage .—The author attaches great importance to 
drainage, and in our opinion justly so. Nevertheless we 
think his method of carrying out the details are far too 
complex. The hidden drains which he advocates the use of 
are likely to become obstructed, unless more attention is 
paid to them than, from our experience, is likely to be the 
case. Stablemen are generally not sufficiently observant of 
cleanliness. We therefore prefer surface drains, having 
simple coverings. These drains should be so contrived that 
they will carry the fluid from the stable into the main 
drain, this being several feet from the outside of the 
stable. 
Temperature -—The temperature of the stable is doubtless 
a very important subject; and if it can be regulated so that 
it ranges from forty-five degrees Fahrenheit in the coldest 
weather to sixty or sixty-five degrees in the hottest summer 
months, it would be desirable. But I fear that a stable 
