REVIEW. 
181 
differ materially with the author, both as regards the ma¬ 
terial they are made of and also the mode of constructing 
them. We have thought that iron, in a sanitary and 
likewise in an economical point of view, is far preferable to 
wood. The iron manger is not likely to absorb any delete¬ 
rious emanations from diseased horses, or to retain—as 
wooden ones are liable to do, either between the joints or in 
the flaws of the wood—vegetable substances, which often, by 
decomposition, become offensive and, in a degree, pre¬ 
judicial to health. 
The author thinks that an iron manger is objectionable 
on account of its coldness. Now, we have never seen the 
slightest reason to object to it on that account. 
The arrangements made for placing the bedding under 
the manger during the daytime, are, we think, highly ob¬ 
jectionable. Indeed, we had thought it was altogether 
abolished in all well-regulated stables. Straw, saturated 
with urine, packed under the manger, immediately beneath 
the eyes and nostrils of the horse, must be injurious; and 
we would advise a discontinuance of such a practice at once. 
The necessity for having a tank in the manger, so as to 
keep a constant supply of water before the horse, is not so 
necessary as many persons suppose it to he; and, indepen¬ 
dent of that, we consider there are many objections to its 
being done, especially in connection with wooden mangers. 
The horse is an animal that does not take water very fre¬ 
quently when in a state of nature ; it is therefore to be 
inferred that he does not require it very often even in the 
artificial state we have placed him ; and should it be kept 
constantly before him, he may acquire the habit of tippling , 
perhaps to an extent, like many bipeds, injurious to his health. 
I have frequently known horses get into the habit of 
playing with the water when kept before them, and, in 
doing so, splash it about the manger and the surrounding 
fittings to an unpleasaut extent. 
We cannot raise any particular objection to racks, if they 
are fixed in the position the author proposes, namely, on a 
level with the horse’s head, when only moderately elevated. 
But we protest against their being placed so high up from 
the floor as we have often seen them in stables. We have, 
