It is quite possible that at the time this announcement was made it may have been received with some scepticism, for it was undoubtedly difficult to believe that such minute and primitive forms of vegetable life, seemingly so scantily equipped for the struggle for existence, should be able to withstand conditions to which vegetable life in more exalted circles so frequently and lamentably succumbs. The tormented agriculturist realises only too well what havoc is followed by a return in May to that season "When icicles hang by the wall, And Dick the shepherd blows his nail And Tom bears logs into the hall, And milk comes frozen home in pail." Again, with what solicitude those of us who have gardens wait to see what will have survived the iron grip of winter in our favourite flower borders, and how frequently we have to face blanks in the ranks of some of its most cherished occupants! Numerous bacteriologists, however, have now confirmed this fact, the fields of ice and snow have been repeatedly explored for micro-organisms, and it has been shown how even the ice on the summit of Mont Blanc has its complement of bacterial flora, that hailstones as they descend upon the earth contain bacteria, that snow, the emblem of purity, is but a whited sepulchre, and will on demand deliver up its bacterial hosts. Quite apart from its general scientific interest, the bacterial occupation of ice is of importance from a hygienic point of view, and a large number of examinations of ice as supplied for consumption have been made. Thus, Professor Fraenkl and also Dr. Heyroth have submitted the ice-supply of the city of Berlin to an exhaustive bacteriological examination. These investigations showed that the bacterial population of ice as supplied to Berlin is a very variable one, and fluctuates between great extremes, rising to as many as 25,000 bacteria in a cubic centimetre (about twenty drops) of ice-water, and falling to as few as two in the same measure. There are numerous circumstances which come into play in determining the density of the bacterial population in ice. First, of course, the initial quality of the water from which the ice is derived is a factor of great importance, for the purer the water the fewer will be the bacteria found in the resulting ice.