In designing these, a recurrence to first principles is of equal importance as in arranging the kitchen offices. The ground on which a stable or coach-house is built ought to be dry, either naturally or by drainage; and the walls ought to be of sufficient thickness to exclude the extremes of heat in summer, and of cold in winter. There ought to be abundance of light admitted, as well for cheerfulness as for cleanliness; and, independently of the doors and windows, there ought to be suitable openings for ventilation. In the stable there ought to be a wooden tube, at least 6 in. square, placed over every stall, and reaching from the under surface of the ceiling to the ridge of the roof, with a cap on the outside to exclude rain; and a slide in the ceiling, at the lower end of the tube, to regulate the quantity of air admitted, so as to keep the atmosphere of the stable at about 50° in winter, and from 60° to 66° in summer. This flue will do for the stable of the horse, what the chimney-flue does for the dwelling-room of the human being.

To give a palpable idea of this mode of ventilating, we may refer to fig. 216.; in which the ventilating tube, with its protecting cover, it shown at rr: q is 4 corn-bin, placed under one of the windows; s is the drain under the floor of each stall, which leads to a main drain under the gutter behind the horses; these drains baring grated openings, each with a bell-trap, to prevent the ascent of bad smells; t is the cast-iron manger; u, the bull's eye cast-iron rack, the hay to which is let down from the loft above, through the open space behind. The mode of keeping hay in lofts over the horses, and letting it down through a space over the racks, which is continually open, is very properly objected to, as contaminating the hay by the breath of the horse; but, when there is a raised ceiling with a ventilator, as in the section before us, the breath of the horse rises to the ventilator, and does the hay no injury whatever. At the bottom of the rack there is, in the space behind, a grated floor, which retains the hay, while it allows the dust and seeds to drop down into the space (v), whence they can be taken out at convenience, by an opening under each stall.

There is a cast-iron ramped cap (w) to the boarded partition between the stalls; and a cast-iron sill (x); both cap and sill having grooves for receiving the ends of the boards which form the partition. The parntion-post (y) is also of cast-iron. That part of the floor of the stable on which a horse stands should always be made perfectly level, with a grating and bell-trap under it, in the centre, for drainage. In general, the floor of the stalls should never be covered with litter in the daytime, or when the horse is not expected to Me down; because the litter retains moisture, harbours insects, and produces an unequal surface for the horse to stand on. Stables, as they are commonly kept, contain an atmosphere charged with ammoniacal gas from the urine, and carbonic acid gas from the lungs, of the horse, which, with moisture from the floor, and other aeriform matters, are extremely disagreeable to man; but, if the stables were properly constructed, ventilated, and drained, kept free from litter during the day, and amply lighted, in the manner we have recommended, they would be as wholesome for a human being to enter, and to remain in, as the living-rooms of a dwelling-house. For various modes of constructing stables, and all their details on the best principles, we must refer the reader to our Encyclopaedia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture, p. 373 to p. 383.

424. The coach-house should not only be dry, and well ventilated, from its situation and construction, but there should be a fireplace in it, or, rather, a flue for a stove; because it must be recollected, that a coach is composed of wood, iron, cloth, stuffing, etc, and is as liable to be injured by changes in the temperature, or by moisture, as chairs, tables, sofas, beds, or any other articles of furniture in the dwelling-house. Nobody would think for a moment of sitting or lying on a sofa which had been standing for some time in a damp out-house without fire; and yet, if there he any difference between the quantity of damp likely to be imbibed by a sofa and a coach, it would undoubtedly be greater in the latter. The lining, stuffing of the back, end cushions, all act as sponges, and become charged with moisture; which, when the coach is used, is drawn forth by the animal warmth of the persons it contains. Hence, the unknown cause of colds, inflammations of the lungs, and many other diseases, with which those who keep close carriages are often attacked.

425. The harness-room should have the walls battened and plastered inside, and lined with boards in those parts where the harness is to be hung, and should have a fireplace or stove, with ample means of ventilation and lighting; as damp is destructive to harness.

426. The groom's or coachman's room is very properly placed over, or adjoining to, the stable for the horses; because the latter are liable to various kinds of accidents in the night-time. There should be a stove (one of Arnott's, for example) in the stable sleeping-room, for use during the most severe weather of winter; because such rooms are, in general, close under the roof, and liable to be very cold; but, by a little arrangement, it might be so contrived that the flue from the fireplace of the harness-room might give all the heat to the coachman's bed-room that was requisite; and, indeed, when the harness-room is placed, as it ought to be, between the stable and the coach-house, with doors communicating with each, all that is necessary is to place the coachman's room over it. By opening the door of this room, which must necessarily be placed near the stoves, the heated air of the har-ness-room may be admitted to ascend to it at pleasure.