March i, 1905.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



183 



MORE ABOUT " POZELINA." 



INHERE appeared in the January i issue of this Journal 

 (page 1 16) an article headed " The Merits of Pozelina," 

 the purpose of which material, in connection with the coagu- 

 lation of rubber, is further indicated in the following letter 

 since received from the proprietor, in Pard: 



To THE Editor ok The India Rubber World : I am in 

 receipt of your favor of December 8 last, to which I beg to re- 

 ply. I note the interest you have taken in learning something 

 further about "Pozelina " than the information contained in 

 our advertisements in the Folha del Norte, and for the purpose 

 of complying with your wish, I beg to state that Pozelina is 

 the invention of Mr. Thomas Cantuaria, an old rubber tree 

 explorer, who discovered it after long continued and careful 

 experiments. Its principal property is the preservation of the 

 rubber milk in a perfectly fluid state during the time required 

 for its transportation to the factory where it can be conven- 

 iently fumigated. An experience of more than 20 years has 

 shown that crude rubber prepared with the aid of Pozelina 

 possesses greater elasticity and is more homogenous, and for 

 these reasons it is always quoted higher in the market. Poze- 

 lina is now in general use, its cost being 4000 reis per can of 

 500 grams. The contents of a can are sufficient for the prepa- 

 ration of 50 kilos of crude rubber. 

 [Note — With exchange at 12 pence per milreis, these figures afford the 



following equivalents ; Cost of Pozelina. 88.3 cents or 31. 7^,/. 



per pound in weight, this quantity being sufficient for 100 times the 



weight in dry rubber. — The Eduok \ 



Besides this preparation Mr. Thomas Cantuaria is likewise 

 the inventor of an apparatus for the preparation of crude rub- 

 ber, by which fumigation becomes unnecessary. This appa- 

 ratus has been in use for more than 20 years, and produces excel- 

 lent results. 



As Mr. Thomas Cantuaria's preparations are in general de- 

 mand, a number of more or less clumsy imitations are being 

 offered under different names and with an extraordinary 

 amount of advertising, to which I call your attention because 

 you advocate the interests of the rubber trade. 



Hoping to have satisfied your wish, and assuring you that I 

 shall always be at your service, I remain yours very truly, 



A. J. A. DE MAGELHAES. 

 Pari, Brazil, February i, 1905. 



AND NOW COMES " SERINGUINA. " 



Another correspondent at Pata sends to The India Rub- 

 ber World a copy of a printed circular relating to another 

 material offered for assisting rubber workers in the process of 

 coagulation, called " Seringuina" by its inventor. Dr. Cerque- 

 ira Pinto, of Para. The statements of the circular, translated 

 from the Portuguese, and condensed somewhat, are as follows : 



Seringuina is a chemical product used for retarding, for any 

 desired time, the coagulation of the latex of rubber and related 

 trees, and producing, after the smoking process, a fine and pure 

 rubber. Seringuina contains no potash or corrosive substances. 

 In the fumigating process to which the rubber milk is sub- 

 jected, the Seringuina, when exposed to the heat of the smoke, 

 evaporates entirely. 



The rubber gatherers whose estradas are at long distances 

 from their camps, and who therefore cannot promptly smoke 

 their rubber, resulting often in the curdling of the milk, will 

 find Seringuina of great utility. It is sufficient to put a large 

 pinch of Seringuina into each vessel of latex, to keep the latter 

 in a fluid condition for 24 or 30 hours after it has left the tree. 

 The fumigation, therefore, may be done at leisure. 



In localities having no fuel for fumigation, Seringuina is 



likewise of inestimable value. By preparing the milk with a 

 small quantity of Seringuina and leaving it to coagulate in 

 forms, a very fine elastic sertiamby is obtained, having often 

 all the properties of fine rubber. 



When, for some unexpected reason, latex treated with Serin- 

 guina curdles, either because the quantity used was too small 

 for the time during which it was to preserve the milk, or on 

 account of the exposure of the latter to the sun or to artificial 

 heat the resulting sernamby (coarse rubber) possesses excellent 

 qualities. 



RECENT REPORTS REGARDING " GUAYULE.- 



THE lierliner Borsen Courier learns that a syndicate con- 

 sisting of the Dresdner Bank, the Deutsche Effekten- 

 und Wechselbank (Frankfort o/M.), the Vereinigte Gummi- 

 waaren-Fabriken Harburg Wien.and a large firm of exporters, 

 having houses in London and Mexico, has converted a Mexican 

 rubber factory into a stock company, with a capital of ;£ioo,- 

 000. The rubber works in question are manufacturing rubber 

 from " Guayule " herbs, and have already obtained satisfactory 

 results. Their products have been introduced into Europe and 

 are said to have found a good reception on account of the 

 scarcity and increased price of crude rubber. 



Recent newspaper reports from Mexico relate to the acquire- 

 ment of certain patents and other interests relating to the ex- 

 ploitation of Guayule, by a company described as L'Anglo- 

 Mexicana, a large commercial organization having its head- 

 quarters in Hamburg, and formed originally to trade in Ixtle 

 and other fibers, both for manufacture and export, and which 

 business is still carried on, being more important at present, of 

 course, than the Guayule product. The company are reported, 

 in a private communication to The India Rubber World, to 

 have a capitalization of _^40o,ooo. The company are reported 

 to have in view the operation of Guayule factories at San Luis 

 Potosi, Torreon, Saltillo, and Jimulco, near which latter place 

 they are already in actual operation. 



The company referred to have acquired the patents of Wil- 

 liam Prampolini, about whose proposed work with Guayule 

 extravagant reports were current two or three years ago. The 

 India Rubber World at that time mentioned the establish- 

 ment of a factory on a considerable scale at San Luis Potosi, 

 but it cannot be learned that any rubber was ever produced 

 there, and machinery is understood to have been removed from 

 the building. It is not to be understood that L'Anglo-Mexi- 

 cana are working the Prampolini process; they have simply 

 acquired his patents as a step in controlling the Guayule inter- 

 est as far as possible. They are reported to have obtained 

 options on the collection of the Guayule plant throughout 

 sections of considerable area around the towns mentioned. It 

 is understood that L'Anglo Mexicana are not connected in any 

 way with the Continental Rubber Co. (New York), who are 

 mentioned in another column in this issue, and who have done 

 not a little experimental work in Mexico for some time past. 



A COMPANY has been registered, under the style of Crotty's, 

 Limited, with ^6500 capital, in £^\ shares, to acquire the busi- 

 ness of Crotty & Co., 62, Grafton street, Dublin, and to carry 

 on the business of India-rubber, Gutta-percha, asbestos, and 

 textile manufacturers. There has not been a rubber goods 

 factory in Ireland hitherto. Messrs. John B. & F. Purchase 

 (London), solicitors of the new company, advise The India 

 Rubber World: "Crotty's, Limited, do not at present manu- 

 facture India-rubber goods in Dublin, but they have power to 

 do so under their memorandum of association." 



