8 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[October i, 19c 6. 



Although the finest Caoutchouc for technical purposes is 

 only yielfled by some half dozen plants, under whose names 

 these varieties of Caoutchouc pass, there can scarcely be a 

 doubt that the elastic substance in each case possesses a 

 very similar, if not identical, chemical structure. Nearly 

 all the latices and similar fluids furnished by plants contain 

 more or less Caoutchouc. Even opium contains Caoutchouc. 



MANUr.\CTrKK OI" SYNTHETIC RCBRER. 



The production of Caoutchouc by chemical means has, 

 indeed, virtually been accomplished in its formation from 

 isoprene. The exact nature of this change has still to bo 

 determined. When this has been done it will only remain 

 to cheapen the cost of production to make the manufacture 

 of synthetic rubber a purelj' practical problem. I should be 

 the last to discourage the great extension of rubber planting 

 which is now taking place. It is warranted by the present 

 demand for the material. It has also to be remembered that 

 the actual cost of producing raw rubber, which is at present 

 about I shilling per pound, will probably be reduced, and 

 the market price of rubber may eventually be so considerabh' 

 lowered that, as with (juinine, the synthetic production coiild 

 not be profitabl3- carried on. That is a question whicli in- 

 volves many factors at present unknown, and only time can 

 decide. Chemists may, however, confidently predict that 

 before the British Association again meets at York* the s}i n- 

 thetic production of rubber will be a fully accomplished fact. 



As I have said, our science is concerned with nearly every 

 problem connected with the great rubber industry, and in 

 concluding these few remarks I may allude to the production 

 of vulcanized rubber, inasmuch as recent experiments of Mr. 

 Bamber in Ceylon appear to show that vulcanization may be 

 accomplished by acting on the uncoagulated latex with chlor- 

 ide of sulphur. If this proves to be practicable, it may mean 

 the transference to the tropics of the subsidiary industry of 

 vulcanization, which is at present carried on in Europe. The 

 chemistry of rubber is to receive special attention of the sec- 

 tion at the York meeting. The chemical investigation of 

 raw materials often raises, unexpectedU', problems of great 

 scientific interest. The examination at the Imperial Insti- 

 tute of the seeds of the Para rubber tree {Hci'ca brasiliensis) 

 has shown that thej- contain what proves to be a valuable 

 drying oil, and in the course of the investigation it was 

 ascertained that there is also present in the seeds and in 

 other oil seeds an enzyme capable of splitting the oil by 

 hydrolysis into glycerine and the free fatty acid. 



» * * 



A len'GTHV and most interesting report on the Chemistry 

 of Rubber, read by Mr. Pickles before the Chemistry section 

 of the Association, will receive attention in these pages in a 

 later issue. 



BRITISH RUBBER NOTES. 



ELASTIC MONEY WANTED. 



'T^O THE Editor of The Ixdi.v Rubber World : The 

 •*- pages of 3our journal contain advertisements of firms 

 who make rubber that will stretch from 2 to 10 inches. Do 

 you know of any company making $t bills of rubber that 

 will stretch to Si o? w.m.ter .\. craft. 



Brooklyn. New York, August 25. 1906. 



• The last meeting of the Association at York was twenty-five vears ago. The 

 next is not likely to occur for twenty-five years more. 



'' I HE scheme for the reconstruction of The Dunlop Pneu- 

 -*- matic Tyre Co., Limited, referred to more than once 

 in Thic India Rubber World, having been heard by Mr. 

 Justice Joyce, in the chancery court on August !, has since 

 been sanctioned and will be put into effect. The object is to 

 reduce the nominal capitalization by reducing the item of 

 " good will " in the assets, in view of the expiration of the 

 patents upon which the company relied for many years to 

 maintain their monopoly. All opposition to the proposals, 

 on the part of shareholders, had practically ceased to be 

 heard, and the management is harmonious. 



= Mr. Charles Coops has been appointed manager of the 

 Macintosh Tyre Co., Limited, mentioned in the July India 

 Rtbher World (page 369) as having been formed to handle 

 the tire trade of Charles Macintosh & Co. Limited (Man- 

 chester). JNIr. Coops was originally in the employ of the 

 Messrs. Macintosh, and later was, for a number of years, 

 managing director of the Eccles Rubber and CncIc Co., 

 Limited. 



= The accounts of The Leyland and Birmingham Rubber 

 Co., Limited, for tlie year ended June 30, 1906, show a trad- 

 ing profit of ^'23,591 195. 60'. The dividends for the year 

 amount to 6 '4^ per cent. 



= Ruberoid Co., Limited, has been regi.stered in London 

 to acquire goods manufactured by The Standard Paint Co. 

 (New York) and Ruberoid Gesellschaft m. b. H. (Hamburg) 

 and to sell the same in Great Britain or elsewhere, and to 

 manufacture roofing, insulating, and other materials. The 

 directorate includes R. L. Shainwald, president of the New 

 York company (who, or his successor, shall be chairman), 

 and G. A. Meyer, :nanaging director of Ruberoid G. m. b. H. 

 The capital is ^6000 (=$29,199). 



= Turners & Manville, limited, has been registered, with 

 ^50,000 capital, to acquire the business in asbestos goods 

 carried on by the Loudon branch of the H. W. Johns-Man- 

 ville Co., and the British Johns-Manville Co., Limited. The 

 directorate includes T. F. Manville, of New York (of the H. 

 W. Johns-Manville Co.), and S. Turner, of Rochdale, Eng- 

 land (of Turner Brothers, Limited). 



=The India-Rubber Manufacturers' Association, of Great 

 Britain, having addressed the governor of Ceylon on the 

 sutiject of the desirability of rubber planters registering 

 trademarks for their respective rubber brands, one of the 

 newspapers in Ceylon expresses the opinion that such trade- 

 marks do not appear necessary. Estates which send their 

 rubber direct to London usually stamp the sheets with the 

 estate name while the rubber is dr\ing.' Many planters, 

 however, sell locallj', and Colombo shippers grading their 

 rubber do not keep that from different estates separate. 

 Still the matter is of some interest as indicating the extent 

 to which manufacturers are taking an interest in whatever 

 pertains to the rubber planting business. 



= The Gorton Rubber Co., Limited, of Manchester, invited 

 subscriptions for the balance .^4770 of their 6 per cent, cu- 

 mulative preference shares in order to provide further working 

 capital. The concern of course is only a small one as rubber 

 works go, but it has made steady progress in late years and 

 is by no means in the moribund condition predicted of it at 

 the decease of Mr. Harry Heaton, Jr., who was mainly in- 

 strumental in breathing life into its drj' bones. 



