The Dickinson press., 1888-03-03
GERMS IN THE ICE.
FREEZING WATER DOES NOT KILL
ALL THE BACTERIA.

|
Alarming Results - Suggestions for
Health Boards.
1t is popularity supposed that water in
| freezing becomes purified, and that the in
furious elements that there may be in it are
| eliminated by the action of the frost. For a
| long time it was considered that even though
ice was frozen over water known to be filthy
the ice was nevertheless pure, and the ap-
parent sanction Of science was given to this
theory Recent Investigations by learned
inlrr"Stopists have, however, thrown new
| light upon this question, and while it is still
ad!nitted that a large percentage of the in
furious elements of impure water become
lost when it is frozen it has also been shown
lh;tt enough impurities remain in the frozen
water to make it possible to spread to an
alarming extent any disease the infectious
elements of which were contained in the
water in its liquid state
One of the persons who has made an ex-
haustivc study of this subject is DR.. I. Mitch
ell Prudden, the director of the laboratory
of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in
this city. In the early part of the year ho
contributed a long article to The Medical
Record, in which he showed the result of
very careful analyses of different samples of
ice taken from, all the sources of supply
around New York. He came to the conclu-
sion that typhoid fever and possibly cholera
might easily he spread among the consumers
of the ice which is formed OH the Hudson.
''This river" he says, ''is at the hest rather
shallow, and large quantities Of detritus an
nually brought down the stream cause con-
stant and considerable change in the bottom,
The islands in the river from Coxsackie to
Albany are gradually formed from the sedi-
mentary deposit. AT the upper part Of this
section, Troy, a city of over $4,000 inhabit-
ants, cmptirs daily s,OOO,OOO gallons Of sew
ago into the river, which is already charged
with contributions from Cohoes and Lansing
burg, to say nothing of the impurities
brought by the Mohawk from the west. A
few miles below Troy Albany, with over
10000 inhabitants, has also an efficient sew
age system, which it pours directly into tho
river"
Taking the results of all his analyses of ice
from the various sources, he finds that the
average number of living bacteria contained
i'll one cubic centimeter of the melted ice is
2,W.', on, to put it in more common terms, a
pint of melted ice would harbor about SOC, 600
living bacteria of various kinds. He who,
u
| drinking wntcr, should perfectly filter half q
| glass of average winter Croton water and
then add TO it an equal quantity of average
| ice, would have tho satisfaction of replacing
| the bacteria removed with more than eight
| times us many from more uncertain and
| questionable sources.
One reason, DIR. Prrllen says, why it was
never before known by scientific men that
Zee might contain the germs of disease was
hat the only method of research was by
chemical examination. These could not, ex-
ccpt lntrrentially, determine the presence of
| tGirtr<la. 1t is no longer necessary to infer
their presence These living germs may now
lie actually counted, and their species and
actions on the animal body definitely deter
mn"l The new method by which this in.
formation is obtained is called the biologlcal
analysis.
In tile experiments made by DR.. Pruden
| samples of ice which contained evident gross
impurities. snch as grass and straw, were in
all cases rejected as not fairly representative
1t has been shown that bacteria may exist in
enormous numbers without inpairing the
clcarllcss and Transparency of the ice.
DR.. lrudcn made biological analyses of 1913
samples taken from blocks of ice from tho
Hudson river at various points from West
Park to the vicinity of Troy. These en-
braced samples fforl all tho prominent leo
fields and many of the small ones In all of
these he found u large number of bacteria of
different kinds Snow zee, DR.. Pr,ltlen
found, contained many times the number of
| bacteria found in transparent ice taken from
the same blocks. Bubbly ice was also I'M
in"snatcd to n much larger extent than
transparent ice with these organisms, hut he
found that this rule as to bubblyice and snow
Ice holds good only when the water from
which the ice is formed contains a consider
able number Of bacteria.
Hudson river ice contained much larger
number of bacterial impurities than the ice
taken from the other waters near New York,
and, while some of these bacteria may be
considered harmless, others, he said, were I'M
doubleday injurious. The fact that two com
mon AMI very important bacterial forms Of
disease, typhoid fever and diseases associated
with blood poisoning, are almost constantly
present in large towns like Troy and Albany,
and frequently i'll villages along the upper
Hudson, confirms the statement made by him
that Hudson river water is impure for drink
ing purposes. He says he does not know
retain life indefinitely OF not in ice, as tho
longest period in which they have been kept
frozen t" his knowledge is 103 days
III" suggests that the state board of health.
"r some other authorized body, should have
full control over the ice harvesting fields,
and by Il system Of inspection not less strict
than that which should exist in the care Of
the ordinary water supply, determine which,
If any, of the sources Of ice supply are SO
situated as to imperil the health of the con-
sumcrs of the ice. In the case of the Hudson
river it would he necessary to establish by
most thorough scientific examination the
distances from all existing sources Of sewage
pollution, at which it might be safely as
sumed that the water had freed itself from
bacteria and other impurities sufficiently to
form safe ice. 1t might in this way be pos
sible to remove any chance of danger by
permitting the questionable or bad ice to bo
sold only for non-drnking purposes, if such
classification is practicable, and thus not
essentially interfere with the interests Of tue
ice companies.
Dr. Walter De F. Day, the sanitary super
intcndcnt of this city, said that the board of
health does not have any supervision over
the ice brought into the city at present. 1t
has not yet been demonstrated that any dan
ger exists, or that any infection has been
caused in this way, and the question has
therefore not been seriously considered. The
theoretical possibility of infection from this
source he admitted. Professor Chandler, Of
Columbia college, who is one of the most enl-
inent microscopists i'll the city, has also made
some examination into the existence of dis.
casc1 germs i'll ice, and has published a PAM
phlet the subject, which points cut the
possibility of infection through the use of ice
New York Sun.
Some folks has er better way o showin'
dat da presherates Yer kinness den udders
docs. De long tail houn' ken pear ter be er
heap gladder den de stump tail dog, wen de
truf is dat lie NUT not he ha'f so glad.-Ar-
kansaw Traveller.
Keep large pieces Of charcoal in damp COR
ners and i'll dark places.