204 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY [ November, 
should be explained that at Kobe, a port of entry, there are health officers 
whose duty it is to examine certain articles as imported, and, among other 
things, ice seems to be one of their favorite subjects of examination, probably 
because it is so easily tested (by their methods). Not long ago a reputable 
firm of business men in Kobe imported a cargo of ice which was condemned 
by the health officers, and its sale was forbidden. The writer was then asked 
to examine the ice, and the results of this examination showed that the ice 
was perfectly good, and even the report of the native officials showed that 
their condemnation of it was purely arbitrary, and an act of meddlesome 
officialism on the part of irresponsible persons. Perhaps the best evidence 
of this will be the official report, of which the following is a copy :— 
‘RESULT OF ANALYSIS OF ICE. 
On application of the above firm, the analysis of the ice has been made, 
and the following results have been obtained. The ice being not good, is 
considered injurious to health for drinking purposes :— : 
Color, none. Ammonia, none. 
Smell, ce Ashasan, oS 
Taste, little. Shasan, of 
Chlorine, some. Organic matter, some. 
Lime, ee Floating matter, __ little. 
Sulphuric acid, none. 
Under the microscope examination the living insects are seen, not destroyed 
jn the body temperature. 
Mawr ipnsas (Signed) Hyoco Ken.’ 
The report is quoted as officially translated. On inquiry the following 
lucid explanation of the last sentence was given :—‘ There are two kinds of 
bacteria, one kind appearing in all water and is harmless; the other kind is 
injurious to health, and is found in the Tientsin ice.’ 
The examination upon which the report was based was made on board the 
vessel in the presence of one of the owners, the analyst having stated that it 
would take him only ten minutes to determine if the ice was fit for drinking. 
The time actually consumed was about twenty minutes. 
The object in quoting the report in full is not to criticise it, for it is quite 
beyond that, but to show how completely the business of a port like Kobe, 
one of the most important in Japan, is subject to the will of meddlesome 
officials. Itwas naturally supposed by the importers, and by the writer, that 
such a superficial examination would be immediately set aside when the results 
of a careful biological examination were presented. But such was by no 
means the case, and for weeks before we left Osaka the ice was melting away 
in a go-down, and the whole cargo has probably been a total loss. 
This is not an isolated case, for the writer has been informed of a number 
of instances where chemical examinations of imported products, made by the 
government analysts, have shown impurities in the purest articles. It has 
usually been found convenient to pass such articles, however, but I believe 
the examiners have never acknowledged their mistakes. They say :— 
‘ Well, it is not good, but we will let it pass,’ and so nobody hears any more 
about it, neither manufacturer nor importers seeming to attach any import- 
ance to such condemnation of their goods. 
Another report of an examination of ice lies before us, this time from the 
Imperial Sanitary Laboratory of Osaka, signed by the analyst and by the 
director of the laboratory. The analysis consisted in an examination of color,’ 
taste, and smell. ‘ Traces’ of chlorine and lime and evaporated residue were 
found, and 100,000 parts of the samples, respectively, decolorized 0.16 and 
0.102 parts of permanganate solution. ‘The writer then says:—‘ From the 
ee 
