142 ON THE VULCANITE BASE 



ever made a practical piece ; also, tliat he saw but 

 recently a piece wliich he succeeded in making 

 at that time, and which had been worn until the 

 present without change. 



Others also profess to have made early experi- 

 ments — with what degree of justice I have no 

 means of judging. The experiments previously 

 made and known to Mr. Goodyear prior to his 

 calling upon me, were, in a measure, explained by 

 him, and I commenced as follows : — 



Instead of the small amount of plaster which 

 is now found sufficient for a single piece, more 

 than four times the quantity was considered ne- 

 cessary. 



I was told that the plaster investment and 

 piece must be buried in a mass of pulverized soap- 

 stone, and thus remain in a high degree of steam- 

 heat for twelve hours. 



I therefore prepared work in this manner, and 

 sent it to Goodyear' s extensive works to be 

 steamed. 



This system was pursued for nearly three 

 months, during which time not more than one 

 piece in five was returned to me in a fit condition 

 to use. 



The cause of all the failures was wholly un- 

 accounted for by any one at the time. Yet even 

 this small per-centage of success encouraged me 

 to have constructed in my own house an appa- 



