264 BACTERIOSCOPICAL EXAMINATION OP ICE SUPPLIED IN SYDNEY, 



As will be seen these figures are, on the whole, higher than 

 those with regard to the ice from the works of the N.S.W. Fresh 

 Food and Ice Company, while, it mnst be acknowledged, in two in- 

 stances the samples were free from living micro-organisms. This fact 

 of the presence of a multitude of colonies in the majority of the 

 samj)les tested is somewhat surprising, because the City Ice Com- 

 pany uses (for the time being) only water that has been condensed 

 from vapoiir before being put into the iron-moulds to fi'eeze. 

 Therefore, we can only say that this condensed or distilled water 

 became contaminated when transferred to the moulds — the samples 

 of ice which I obtained were derived from moulds containing 

 about 161bs. water — or while in them. More than once I met 

 with quite an assortment of the most different colonies of bacteria 

 (pigment-bacteria, etc.), which are usually not inhabitants of 

 Sydney tap-water. A feature common to the condition of the 

 ice of both the named works was that liquefying colonies were in 

 proportion nearly always exceedingly few. The proportion of 

 liquefying colonies to non-liquefying ones in the water from the 

 Sydney supply has proved to be larger. 



"SYDNEY ICE COMPANY." 



§2^; s^ • 



C 





Colonies 





= >s. 



X ?•« 



^^ w 









" ^ i; 



•S "> ft 

 ^-2 





t^ 

 ?.?. 



Temperature of incubation. 



counted 

 throughout 



Number of 

 colonies 





a 





or calculated. 



in 1 in 



a ° 









1 ccm. 



J com. 



1888. 1888. 













Feb. 15 Feb. 17 



48 



72-74°F. = 225-23}rC. 



Calculated 



22-15 

 2593 



944 



897 



„ 20 



22 



42 



74-76-5°F. = 23^24}fC. 



Counted... 



438 

 435 



217 



204 



„ 23 



„ 25 



46 



74-78°F. = 23^25rC. 



Counted . . . 



77 

 84 



40 

 38 



In reference to the behaviour of the cultures from this ice, 

 which to judge from the few tests made, contained too many germs, 

 at least in the first two instances, I may mention that they differed 

 at first glance from those of the ice from the two other works, in 



