October i, 1908.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



31 



THE PROPERTIES OF "VULCOLE." 



A N article headed "Vulcole" in the last Inuia Rubber World 

 *^ related to a new assistant for rubber compounds that had 

 recently come upon the market. The company having its sale in 

 charge wrote under date of September 25: 



"At this writing some 40 rubber manufacturers, and among 

 them the largest and most representative in the United States 

 and Canada, have ordered 'Vulcole,' and are now engaged in 

 experimenting with it. Besides those ordering we have had let- 

 ters from some 70 more asking for further information, and 

 believing that as many more as have written are interested, we 

 take the liberty of writing you covering all of the questions we 

 have received. 



" 'Vulcole' is a paste about the consistency of ice-cream and in 

 the A and B grades a cream white in color, C grade being jet 

 black. A grade is made for all classes of rubber goods, black, 

 red, white or blue that the manufacturers want to bloom. B grade 

 will absolutely prevent blooming and is suitable for all com- 

 pounds and cures where non-blooming results are desired. C 

 grade is put up exclusively for rubber boot and shoe work. It 

 will not only absolutely prevent blooming in rubber boot-legs, 

 but is possible to obtain a rubber with a jet black, gim-nictal 

 finish, a finish we believe will be in great demand for rubbers 

 worn in large cities where the fashionable trade object to wear- 

 ing rubbers that look when new as if the wearer had just left 

 the varnish shop. 



"In the majority of compounds from 3 to 5 per cent, of sul- 

 phur is at present used, but with 'Vulcole' it is possible to 

 increase this amount to 75 per cent, of the weight of the crude 

 rubber, which increases the sulphur percentage 1600 to 5000 times. 

 "The majority of letters ask what is the special advantage of 

 using sulphur as a compounding ingredient. In answer to this 

 we would say that in considering the value of a rubber compound 

 its price, together with quality and bulk, must be taken into 

 account. We have seen compounds costing 75 cents a pound 

 that are really cheaper than ones costing but 50 cents a pound, 

 for the reason that from a pound of the one costing 75 cents, 

 so many more articles of the same size could be made out of a 

 pound of stock that each article costs less than when made out 

 of the so cent compound. 



"Sulphur is the lightest of the mineral pigments generally used 

 by a rubber manufacturer, its gravity being 2. It is also low in 

 price and does not affect the elasticity when mixed in a com- 

 pound together with 'Vulcole.' It does not affect the strength 

 as would a substitute, to say nothing of the great saving in the 

 cost in favor of the former. Samples which we have that were 

 made 7 months ago show no oxidation. 



"Contrary to what might be expected from using so large a 

 percentage of sulphur, equaling 75 per cent, of the weight of the 

 crude rubber and but one ounce of 'Vulcole A' to a pound of 

 the former, it does not bloom excessively. 'Vulcole,' in enabling 

 so large a percentage of sulphur to be compounded into the 

 goods, greatly reduces the time necessary to vulcanize, increasing 

 two or threefold the output of a specific number of presses and 

 molds, to say nothing of the saving in cost of labor on the press. 

 We have cured without soap or soapstone the most delicate mold 

 work. 



"We would impress the fact that by the aid of 'Vulcole' it is 

 possible to make up a compound containing a fair proportion 

 of crude rubber, adding all of the mineral pigments that are 

 usually used, besides from 25 to 75 per cent, of the weight of 

 the raw rubber in sulphur without affecting the quality of the 

 finished product, to say nothing that the sulphur will lighten 

 the gravity, and increase the bulk of the compound. 



"While the initial cost of 'Vulcole' is approximately 7 cents 

 an ounce, the saving it effects will enable a manufacturer who 

 uses it to cheapen the cost of the compound without reducing 



the quality. It actually effects a saving of from 15 to 331/3 per 

 cent., according to the percentage of sulphur used, to say nothing 

 of the fact that it absolutely prevents blooming, increases two 

 and threefold the output and saves altogether the time lost in 

 cleaning and scraping the molds between heats." 



TESTING THE HEART WITH RUBBER. 



I ' HE sphygmomanometer is a pulse pressure gauge, used by 

 physicians for measuring the pressure of blood in the 

 arteries, in the treatment of circulatory disturbances or heart dis- 

 ease. Writing on its use, in the New York American, Dr. Sam- 

 uel G. Tracy, of New York, says : 



"An artery of the body can be compared with a flexible rubber 

 tube used for a drop light and filled with illuminating gas. If 

 the tube is slightly damaged or obstructed, an overpressure of 

 gas may produce a fissure in the inner wall of the tube, or the 

 tube may burst. However, if one moderates the gas pressure, 

 tlien the tube holds good. So in the human arteries there is 

 danger from excessive pressure. 



"In testing the pulse at the wrist, experienced physicians be- 

 come familiar with the feeling of the quality of the artery, and 



The Sphygmomanometer in Use. 



[Measuring a patient's arterial tension.] 



can often tell if this artery has become hardened and ils caliber 

 correspondingly smaller. To make sure, however, the sphyg- 

 momanometer makes the test certain. 



"This instrument consists of a cut-glass bulb and upriglit tube 

 containing mercury. One side of the glass bulb is connected with 

 a rubber tube ending in a rubber hand bulb. The other side is 

 connected with an inflatable rubber band or tire, which, attached 

 to the arm over the radial artery, when the hand bulb is com- 

 pressed, drives the mercury up in the glass tube. 



"If the column of mercury indicates 114 to 125 millimeters in 

 the female adult and 125 to 135 in the male adult, a normal blood 

 pressure obtains. If lower than this the vital energy must be 

 improved, which is quite easy to do. If, on the other hand, the 

 column of mercury indicates increased pressure, then artcrio 

 scierosis, with hardening of the arteries, is probably present, and 

 your condition demands the advice of a physician." 



As will be seen from the illustration (which appears here 

 through the courtesy of the New York American), this important 

 device owes much to rubber, which forms such a considerable 

 part of it. 



