694 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



cial HiSTOg) to remove an excess of bronze from a sheet, and found 

 it dissolved it. Later he examined the piece and found it " cured," as 

 he called it. He does not appear to have known that his acid con- 

 tained sulphuric acid (ISTorth American Review, vol. ci; Le Caout- 

 chouc et la Gutta Perclia, E. Chapel, p. 47). The cloth was of 

 superior quality and stood heat sufficiently well for many purposes; 

 so he was happy again. A patent was secured (183G) for his " acid- 

 gas " process, and a partner ("William Ballard) with large capital 

 readily found. The fabrication of beautiful articles was begun in 

 Bank Street and on Staten Island, whither he removed his family, 

 and recognition was received from many quarters. Before taking- 

 out this patent he was so overcome by noxious vapors in his labora- 

 tory that he nearly lost his life. Fortune, however, turned again, and 

 the firm was carried under by his partner's affairs in the panic of 

 1836-'37. This injured him greatly, being ascribed to w^ant of 

 merit in his goods. Reduced to poverty again, he pawned his um- 

 brella to Mr. Yanderbilt to reach the city. Though in direst need, 

 still he did not give up India rubber. The family was helped back to 

 Staten Island, where he was allowed to print piano covers and ladies' 

 aprons in colors and bronze, the sale of which was of some assistance. 

 Their few teacups served both for table and experiments. Attempts 

 to rally the courage of stockholders failed, owing partly to the gen- 

 eral gloom prevailing. His persistent faith in gum elastic and his 

 habit of wearing it, to test and advertise it, led to his becoming an 

 object of ridicule, and he was regarded as a monomaniac. But he 

 had the good fortune to find favor with J. Haskins, of the Roxbury 

 Company, who invited him to Boston and proffered him aid. 



Despairing of New York, Goodyear secures a loan, and with 

 choice specimens an-ives (toward the end of 1837, says E. Chapel) 

 in Roxbury, Massachusetts, where so much had been made and lost 

 in rubber. Former friends in hardware forward his designs as far 

 as they are able. E. M. Chaffee, whose inventive genius had given 

 the industry its initial movement, becomes specially interested, and 

 advises perseverance. Chaffee, supposing, as had Goodyear, that the 

 adhesiveness arose from the oil of turpentine employed, had invented 

 heavy machinery for dissolving the gum without its use; but, as 

 we have seen, the stickiness was inherent in the substance itself. So, 

 old difficulties reappearing, the revival of trade had proved to be 

 but temporary. Chaffee and Haskins secure assistance for Goodyear, 

 and allow him to use the valuable idle machinery in their factory. 

 Prosperity seems to smile again on the indefatigable experimenter. 

 He invents a new process for making shoes and secures a patent, but 

 sells it to meet immediate wants — a course he was often obliged to 

 pursue, thus removing himself from lasting benefits. He also makes 



