266 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[May 



'9°3 



upon square bars, round rods or steel plates, which may be 

 withdrawn when the roll is finished. The driving pulleys are 

 eight inches in diameter, with a 2-inch face, and can be run 



at about 250 revolutions 

 a minute, if desired. 

 The register of measure- 

 ment is on a dial set 

 horizontally at the side 

 of the machine and ope- 

 rated by a worm on the 

 shaft of the measuring 

 roll. The standard sizes 

 are two, for % and | 

 goods. The former will 

 take fabrics up to 27 

 inches in width, while 

 the other serves from 

 that width up to 36 

 inches. 

 The more elaborate 



FIG. 6. 



machine shown in Figure 7 is needed for winding and measur- 

 ing fine and light fabrics. The tension arrangement is similar 

 to that of the other machine, and the measuring is done sub- 

 stantially in the same 

 way. A hand lever, re- . 

 inforced by a weight, 

 holds the jaws in place 

 and automatically ad- 

 justs them to any slight 

 variations in the length 

 of the boards. Jaws are 

 obtainable fitted (or 

 cardboards, paper tubes 

 and all other devices in 

 actual use. Machines of 

 this type are built up to 

 a width of 72 inches. 



The machines are so 

 constructed that a plat- 

 form containing the 

 cloth to be measured 

 and wound can be rolled underneath without preventing the 

 operation of the treadle by which work is started and stopped. 

 An unrolling frame, with a large apron is used in some cases 

 where the fabric to be measured comes in large rolls. In that 

 way the tension arrangement, of the machine has entire con- 

 trol of the feeding. 



FIQ. 7. 



TO MAKE RUBBER SHOES IN MUNICH. 



THE Aktiengesellschaft Metzeler & Co. (Munich) have re- 

 cently taken up the manufacture of rubber boots and 

 shoes on a large scale. The product has been thorougly tested 

 in their branch stores, as to fit and quality, during the past two 

 years. The objective point, on entering into the shoe manu- 

 facture, was to produce an article equal to the best imported 

 brands. The large consumption of foreign made shoes is proof 

 that a demand for German made goods of good quality exists 

 in the market. The shoes made bv Metzeler & Co. are cheaper 

 than those of Russian manufacture, and higher priced than 

 the other German manufactures. The firm will certainly be 

 supported^by the dealers in its endeavor to produce, at fair 

 prices, shoes that can compete in every respect with foreign 

 made goods. — Gummi-Zeitung. The Metzeler firm now 

 make rubber technical goods and asbestos goods. 



"FICUS ELASTICA" AS A HOUSE PLANT. 



PHE story of the Texas man who tried to sell to a rubber 



A manufacturer a rubber plant which, on inquiry, proved to 

 be located in the southwest cornsr of his parlor, has become a 

 classic in the rubber trade. Nor was he alone in his belief that 

 the ornamental plants that have become so common in houses 

 have a commercial value. One often hears the owners of such 

 plants speculating on the amount of rubber that could be se- 

 cured by cutting into them. No doubt the supposition is com- 

 mon that somewhere in the world little ten-foot shrubs are cut 

 down and by a more or less mysterious process turned into rub- 

 ber. Or, on the other hand, it may be supposed that the plant 

 is named not because it produces rubber, but because its leaves 

 are elastic and rubbery in appearance. 



Such ideas make rubber men smile, but even those who know 

 most about rubber manufacturing and who can grade crude 

 rubber with the greatest accuracy, have somewhat hazy ideas 

 about our familiar friend, the house rubber plant. One of the 

 leading rubber importers of the United States is willing to wa- 

 ger a good round sum that the common rubber plant is not Ficus 

 elastica but Ficus ausiralis. An investigation has been under- 

 taken at various times and with various results, paragraphs hav- 

 ing appeared stating that the plant is Ficus elastica, and that it 

 is not. 



The only way to settle such a matter is to take it to the su- 

 preme court and secure a definite statement of the characteris- 

 tics which identify the species to botanists. A visit to the bo- 

 tanical garden of Harvard University and consultation there of 

 such works as Bailey's " Encyclopedia of Horticulture," the 

 " Index Kewensis," and Curtis's Botanical Magazine gives the 

 (ollowing results : 



Ficus ausiralis is a name not now recognized by botanists, 

 the correct name of that species being Ficus Rubiginosa. The 

 species is also called Ficus ferruginea. The tree is a native of 

 Queensland, but the name ausiralis means "southern," and 

 not "Australian." If the name had been intended to indicate 

 its Australian habitat it would have been Auslraliensis, or per- 

 haps Australia'. Rubiginosa means " reddish " and ferruginea, 

 "rusty." Both names refer to the reddish down that covers 

 the under side of the leaves when young and that can be seen 

 on the nerves of even the oldest leaves. The leaves of Ficus 

 rubiginosa are never much more than four inches long and are 

 marked by veins — not more than eight or ten pairs — which 

 start nearly at right angles with the midrib, but recurve toward 

 the base and end before reaching the margin. This plant is 

 somewhat cultivated in conservatories, having been introduced 

 to England by Sir Joseph Banks in 1789. 



Ficus elastica has larger leaves than its cousin, glossy green 

 all over on both sides. The leaves sometimes grow to the 

 length of a foot. 'They are marked by many veins (fifty pairs 

 or so) which run almost straight from midrib all the way to the 

 margin, at right angles to the midrib. The leavestaper at the 

 stem and have a sharp point at the tip, while those of Ficus 

 rubiginosa have a rounded bottom and a blunt or even slightly 

 indented tip. There is a variety of Ficus elastica (var. varie- 

 gata) which has white or creamy edges. It is very beautiful, 

 but is less popular than the standard variety because of its sus- 

 ceptibility to attack by parasites. 



From what is written above it is evident that the rubber 

 plant of our houses is the real thing, Ficus elastica — the rubber 

 plant of India — modified by transference to the temperate zone. 

 Here it does not grow to a height of 1 20 feet, and its aerial roots 

 and stately habit must be left to the imagination ; but botani- 

 cally it is thoroughly characteristic. 



