ICE

Syn. Glacies , L. Water in the solid state. On being cooled, water gradually contracts until the temperature has fallen to 39·9° Fahr., when it begins to expand. At the freezing-point, 32° Fahr., under ordinary conditions, water crystallises or freezes, and in consequence of the continued expansion, the sp. gr. of ice, as compared with that of water at 39·9°, is as ·94 to 1·00. Ice has the peculiar property of reuniting by the contact of adjoining surfaces after having been broken into fragments ( REGELATION ). Coloured water and salt water, by freezing, produce colourle and fresh ice; and clean solid ice, when thawed, furnishes water equal in purity to that which has been distilled. The use of ice in the preparation of ICE-CREAMS , ICED-LIQUORS , ., is noticed elsewhere. The confectioner collects his ice as early as po ible during the winter, and stores it in a well-drained well or excavation, somewhat of the form of an inverted sugar-loaf, contained in a small shed or building called an ICE-HOUSE . This building should always be situated on a dry sandy soil, and, if po ible, on an eminence. The door should be on the north side, and the roof should be conical and thickly thatched with straw. In medicine , ice is frequently employed externally in inflammation of the brain, to resolve inflammation, to stop hæmorrhage, to constringe relaxed parts, and an anodyne, to deaden pain. For these purposes it is pounded small, in a cloth, and placed in a bladder or bag of gauze ( ICE-CAP , ICE-POULTICE ) before applying it. Internally, ice or ice-cold water has been given with advantage in heartburn, typhus, inflammation and spasms of the stomach, to check the vomiting in cholera, and to arrest hæmorrhage, whether bronchial, gastric, nasal, or uterine. Very recently, ice has been proposed as a remedy in the treatment of diphtheria. Small lumps of ice, or a small gla ful of pounded ice-and-water, will often temporarily restore the tone of the stomach and nervous system during hot weather, when all other means fail. Ice-creams, taken in moderation, act in the same way. In the warmer climates of Europe an ICE-HOUSE or an ICE-SAFE (a REFRIGERATOR ) is a nece ary appendage to every respectable dwelling, not merely for the purpose of pleasing the palate with iced beverages, but to enable the residents to preserve their provisions (fish, meat, game, milk, butter, .) in a wholesome state from day to day. In addition to large cargoes of ice imported yearly from Norway, and principally consumed in England, Germany and France, ice is now manufactured to no inconsiderable amount, in these three countries artificially, the principal consumption of the factitious article being by brewers, who use it for the cooling of their worts. The artificial manufacture of ice is effected by the means of the condensation of elastic vapours in machines expre ly made for the purpose. In Siebe’s ice-making machine the vapour of ether is made to traverse metallic tubes surrounded with a concentrated solution of common salt, by which it becomes recondensed to the liquid state, to be again utilised in the production of the vapour; the solution of salt becoming at the same time so reduced in temperature, as to convert into ice, water, contained in proper ve els, placed in it. In Carré’s machine the same end is accomplished by means of ammoniacal gas, a solution of calcic chloride being used for absorbing the cold instead of common salt. Reece’s is a modification, (he states an improvement) of Carré’s. Ice machines are also made, in which ice is produced, by bringing water into contact with air, which has been greatly reduced in temperature by cooling it when in the compre ed state, and subsequently allowing it to expand. Liquid carbonic and sulphurous acids have likewise been used in the preparation of artificial ice, but not when it has been required in any considerable quantity. See Refrigeration .