Democratic Sentinel, Volume 4, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 November 1880 — Impurity in ice. [ARTICLE]

Impurity in ice.

The popular delusion that water in the process of freezing somehow elimi- ■ nates any impurity it may contain, or ■ that the vitality of animal or vegetable germs is destroyed by the cold, is now ' very generally exploded. Now, howi ever, that the season for gathering ice is i once more approaching, it will be just I as well that attention should be again | drawn to the dangerous nature of the i fallacy alluded to. An American natj uralist has been microscopically examinI ing fragments of ico taken fronl various : canals and ponds. He took only such i specimens as appeared clean, and were I quite transparent to the eye. On melti ing them and subjecting them to magnifying powers, varying up to 900 diameters, he says that vegetable tissue and confervoid growth were in most cases observable-at once. He found no instance in which animalculie were pres- ■ eut in an active state after freezing, but i after being allowed to stand for a while in a moderate temperature the water presented monads whose movements were easily distinguished with a magnifying power of from 200 to 400 diamei ters. After a while confervse were grow- ; ing and taking form similar to the nests ' occupied by the young of the Paramecium, common in stagnant water. The result of the observations is to prove beyond question.that freezing does not in any way eliminate impurity or prevent the subsequent development of animal or vegetable germs. This is ' merely a confirmation of what has already been asserted and proved before, but the matter is of such importance that it is not likely to be urged with unnecessary frequency. Many persons who will look askance at a glass of unfiltered water will not hesitate to cool their drink by dropping a knob of ice into it. Thqt from ponds and canals is, of course, ostensibly gathered for nondietetic purposes, but it is to be feared that in hot weather ice is ice, and that ! much risk of mischief is often incurred. It may be questioned whether tliis industry should not be looked after a little.—London Globe.