Damp is peculiarly unfavourable to the well-being of horses, especially when it is combined with heat. In damp hot climates - such as those of Lower Bengal, Lower Burma, the Malabar and Coromandel coasts of India, Southern China, the low-lying seaboard of Ceylon and of the Malay Peninsula, and the Gold Coast - successful horse-breeding and horse-rearing are impossible; for in such places there is great difficulty in rearing young stock, and if they happen to grow up, they will be no good. Proximity to the sea or to the Equator, in itself, does not appear to have any connection with this failure; for we find that the fact of England and Ireland being surrounded by the sea does not injuriously affect stud operations in these countries; and that one of the hardiest and strongest breeds of ponies for their size, namely the Deli ponies, comes from the north of Sumatra. Although climatic cold diminishes the bad effect which damp has on the muscular development of horses, its good influence in this respect appears to be obtained at the cost of increased susceptibility to diseases connected with the organs of breathing. Thus we succeed in breeding in England, big, powerful horses; but unfortunately many of them, Shires, Clydesdales, and thoroughbreds, "make a noise," and are much more liable to coughs and colds than horses which live in warm climates. The bad effects of damp on horses are shown not only constitutionally, but also in the quality and formation of the animals' feet, which, when kept under its influence, become weak, flat, and often diseased. The fact therefore remains that the horses which have the greatest immunity from roaring and other diseases of breathing, and which have the strongest feet, are those that are bred and brought up in dry climates.