March 1, 1913.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



299 



Imitation Horn and Whalebone. 



AN interesting article on this siihject has recently been pub- 

 lished in Germany by Hood, and it is here given in free 

 translation. 



Whalebone is used in great quantities for different industrial 

 purposes, for instance, as inlays for ladies' hats and corsets, for 

 walking-sticks, umbrellas and whips, for certain kinds of arti- 

 ficial flowers, buttons, boxes, etc. 



Its advantages lie in its great elasticity; for this reason it has 

 been so largely used in corset manufacture. In order to work 

 it up for buttons, boxes and similar articles, it must first be 

 softened by steam or hot sand ; it may then be pressed in molds 

 and afterwards polished. 



The consumption of this rather expensive material is so great 

 that the various industries could not do without imitations thereof. 

 It is imitated in several ways and in great quantities. A good 

 imitation should, however, possess as far as possible, and to as 

 high a degree as possible, all the good qualities of the natural 

 whalebone; for this reason, it is well to discuss these latter 

 qualities. 



The so-called black whalebone comes from the mouth of the 

 bearded whale ; the sickle-shaped bent horn-like plates, which are 

 in the mouth on each side of the upper jaw, to the number of 

 250 to 300, with the wide sides lying together, take the place of 

 the teeth of the ordinary whale. These so-called "beards" are 

 fringed at their outer edges, and hang in strands from the jaws, 

 forming the so-called "beard." They not infrequently reach a 

 length of 12 to 16 feet, and are from 12 to 14 inches wide, and 

 about 21^ inches thick. .\ single whale will yield about 1,600 to 

 3,500 pounds of whalebone. When the "beards" are removed 

 from the mouth of the dead whale, they must be cleaned and 

 split into sheets — this latter process being very readily accom- 

 plished; then dried and cut into as long pieces as possible and 

 boiled soft in water. The plates are then separated, according 

 to the use which is to be made of them, into rods, which are then 

 shaved and wet polished. For the latter operation pumice-stone 

 and felt are used ; these rods are then rubbed with air-slaked 

 lime. 



The principal advantage of the natural whalebone lies, as he- 

 fore said, in its great elasticity. But the material possesses also 

 great tensile strength and toughness, with no low degree of hard- 

 ness; and is readily split. It is exactly this facility of splitting, 

 making it possible to cut thin strips without any trouble, that 

 makes the material especiallj' valuable for corsets and the like. 

 The shops in which the whalebone is freed from the fringes are 

 called whalebone tearing shops : there are such in Berlin, Ham- 

 burg, Bremen, Vienna, Amsterdam and Copenhagen, which cities 

 are the principal centers of the whalebone industry. The fibers 

 which result as waste from the manufacture of whalebone for 

 umbrella-makers, tailors and whip-makers, are used for uphol- 

 stery. Thev are verv similar to horse hair and are used for the 

 same purpose. 



Another material of quite different character is the so-called 

 "white fishbone" coming from the cuttle-fish, which has a yellow- 

 ish white limy shell which shines like mother-of-pearl, and is 

 used almost exclusively for polishing fine wood, meerschaum. 

 ivory, etc. : also for tooth powder. It has nothin.g in common 

 with whalebone. 



As regards the cheaper imitation whalebones, there are some 

 which are not to be compared with those of india-rubber. For 

 instance, there is the process covered by Munk's German patent 

 No. 72923, which treats hides with lime and a solution of sulphite 

 of soda, and then with a heavy solution of chromate of lime ; 

 then dries the material and subjects it to heavy pressure. The 

 tnaterial thus obtained possesses the essential properties of corset 



whalebone, but is readily damaged by moisture ; it must there- 

 fore be impregnated with varnish or a solution of india-rubbei 

 to make it weather- and sweat-proof. 



A very remarkable substitute for whalebone is an elastic ma- 

 terial patented by Tharin & Petit in Germany (No. 77218). 



Paper is cut into thin strips and about 20 of these are laid 

 together and drawn through a bath of concentrated sulphuric 

 acid. If these strips are then passed between rollers, they are 

 united into a firm parchment-like elastic piece, which may be cut 

 into strips or rods that may be employed for corset making and 

 the like. 



According to the German patent of Pirazzi & Co. (No. 72551), 

 a substitute for whalebone may be made by bleaching certain 

 intestines after thoroughly cleaning with strong lye, and then 

 treating them with a thin adhesive material. The product thus 

 obtained is made water-tight by dipping in tannic acid, next dried 

 and then varnished. 



Tliesc arc only some of the substitutes for real whalebone. 

 There are numerous other recipes, and the substances made 

 thereby are most varied in quality. 



But the imitations made by the employment of india-rubber — 

 for instance "balenite" and "plastite" — not only are good substi- 

 tutes for whalebone, but serve to replace horn in the manufac- 

 ture of articles for which whalebone would not be suitable. 



"Hard" or "horn" rubber (also called ebonite) may be made 

 into a good substitute for horn and whalebone. According as it 

 is compounded, the resulting mass has a greater or less degree 

 of elasticity, color, hardness, resistance to pressure, etc. Some- 

 times the substances are added only to cheapen the product; 

 sometimes to perfect it. This is true in the case of balenite and 

 plastite, which may be called imitation whalebone. We must not 

 lose sight of the fact that horn has very much the same qualities 

 as whalebone. 



Natural horn is yielded by ordinary cattle, goats, giraffes and 

 tlie "rhino." The so-called "horns" of deer are not made up of 

 horn at all. but of bone; being only an excrescence of the skull; 

 and may be considered the same as a tusk. 



The composition of balenite varies according to the articles 

 which are to be made therefrom. Elasticity is the main consid- 

 eration. The mixture is usually about 100 parts by weight of 

 india-rubber, 20 each of shellac, calcined magnesia, sulphur and 

 flowers of sulphur. The hard ingredients are pulverized, well 

 mixed and then kneaded with the india-rubber. From this plastic 

 mass there are made plates which are cut into strips. Then 

 comes the vulcanizing, which according as an elastic or a hard 

 tough material is desired, is done under a comparatively low or 

 a high temperature. But no balenite is as hard and brittle as 

 hard rubber. The product is used for cane-handles, sheaths of 

 sabres, cigar cases, knife and tool handles, etc.: but more es- 

 pecially as a substitute for whalebone. It may be polished just 

 like ebonite. 



An equally useful product is plastite, which has a deep rich 

 black color and may be planed, turned and polished. This ma- 

 terial also is suitable for use in place of whalebone. By proper 

 handling it may be given a very high degree of hardness and is 

 often used to make articles which would otherwise be made of 

 stone or metal ; also to take the place of horn. In making the 

 plastite mass, many different materials may be used as "fillers"; 

 especially magnesia, by reason of its light weight. A common 

 recipe is 100 parts of india-rubber, 40 to 50 each of magnesia 

 and flowers of sulphur, 20 of sulphur, and 50 of coal-tar. Labo- 

 ratory tests are always necessary to determine for what purpose 

 the mass is best adapted. In order to make the mixture more 

 plastic, it is first worked, next pressed in molds, and then vulcan- 



