132 THE STORY OF THE BACTERIA, 



not the case with any of the Hudson-River 

 ice, nor with much of that which comes from 

 other sources. 



The criterion of wholesome ice is of course 

 the same for all regions of the country. The 

 condition of affairs in New York is cited simply 

 because it is an example of the extremely ob- 

 jectionable and dangerous practices which 

 sensitive and refined people will indulge in 

 from force of habit or from ignorance of the 

 nature of their errors. 



Many persons who are alive to the dirty and 

 dangerous character of much of the New-York 

 ice are looking eagerly either for a reform on 

 the part of the ice dealers in the character of 

 the places on which they cut their ice, or to 

 the establishment of manufactories of artificial 

 ice, which can be made from water purified by 

 distillation. It seems at present, however, as 

 if a spontaneous reform on the part of the ice 

 harvesters were not to be looked for, and that 

 this must be brought about either by legisla- 

 tive enactments or by a determined movement 

 on the part of a large number of consumers. 



The dumping of city garbage in vacant lots 



