419 
STABLE MANAGEMENT. 
BY 
VETERINARY LIEUT.-COLONEL W. B. WALTERS, C.B., 
F.R.C.V.S., late A.V.D. 
(A Lecture delivered at the Loyal Artillery Institution, Woolwich, 12th February, 1894). 
Colonel W. S. Quezon, E.A., in the Chaie. 
The Chairman —Gentlemen, I do not think I need introduce Colonel 
Walters to you for yon all know him. He has very kindly come to 
talk to ns this evening about the care of our horses, and I wish he had 
a better audience. 
Veterinary Lieut.-Colonel W. B. Walters —Colonel Curzon and 
gentlemen, in considering the subject of stable management I do not 
propose to deal with structural details, except in so far as the principles 
of ventilation, light, and drainage are concerned; for, in the first place, 
the time at my disposal will not admit of it, and, secondly, from a 
military point of view it is unnecessary. It may be well, however, 
to remark that as horses thrive best in a dry atmosphere : all stables 
should be built so as to resist the invasion of damp as much as pos¬ 
sible ; and for this reason whatever the situation, aspect, or nature of 
the soil may be, it is all-important that the foundations should be so 
laid that the ascent of moisture from the earth through the walls, by 
the process of capillary attraction, is impossible. When moisture is 
seen trickling down a stable wall we may safely conclude that the foun¬ 
dations are not damp proof, and, although the system of drainage may 
be perfect and the arrangements for ventilation all that can be desired, 
considerable difficulty will be experienced in keeping such a building 
in a satisfactory sanitary condition. 
One of the most important items in stable management is that of 
ventilation. The horse, perhaps more than any other of the lower 
animals, requires a constant supply of pure air to keep him in a proper 
state of health. Oxygen is the great blood purifier, and if this gas be 
not present in sufficient quantities unhealthy conditions will be de¬ 
veloped, and probably the animahs life endangered. Roughly speaking, 
the atmosphere is composed of four-fifths of nitrogen and one-fifth of 
8. VOL. XXI. 
