18 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD. 



[October i, 1901. 



LITERATURE OF INDIA-RUBBER. 



KOLOMAL-WIRTSCHAFTLICHES KOMITEE. EXPEDITION NACH 

 Central-und Siidamenka. Dr. Paul Preuss. iSij-igoo Dcrlin : 1901. [Cloth. 

 Svo. pp. xii -452*20 plates. Price ;o marks. 1 



DR. PAUL PREUSS is the director of the botanic gardens 

 at Victoria, in the German colony of Kametun in West 

 Africa. In that colony no little attention has been given — in- 

 duced largely by the efTorts of Dr. Preuss— to the introduction 

 of the culture of various economic plants not found native 

 thire. including several rubber yielding species. In the very 

 comprehensive and substantial appearing volume before us, 

 Dr. Preuss has outlined his itinerary— beginning at Amsterdam 

 June I, rSgg. and ending in Berlin on July 20 in the following 

 year. Meinwhile he visited Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, 

 Trinidad and other West Indian islands, most of the Central 

 American states, and Mexico. He was interested particularly 

 in seeing plantations — or the native growths— of cacao, coffee' 

 vanilla, Peru balsam, and India-rubber. The second part of 

 this volume is a series of chapters each summarizing Dr. 

 Preuss's observations in regard to one of the products above 

 mentioned. The chapter on Caoutchouc yielding plants is 

 devoted largely to the Castilloa species, several plantations of 

 which, and the methods employed, are recorded. Dr. Preuss 

 was also much interested, however, in the Sapium rubber spe- 

 cies of Ecuador and Colombia, and illustrates three of these, in- 

 cluding two named by himself. There are in addition to the 

 Sapium biglandulosum, of Colombia, which has been known for 

 years as a rubber tree. In another chapter, under the head of 

 Gutta percha yielding plants, appear notes on Chicle, the 

 " chewing gum " plant ; Balata, " Tuno," and other gums, but 

 no real Gutta-percha, of course. In addition to the 20 plates 

 mentioned above, this book contains 78 engravings scattered 

 through the text, of a character most helpful to the reader in 

 understanding the conditions of travel and life and also of trop- 

 ical planting, is observed by Dr. Preuss. 



This work forms a fitting companion volume to one published 

 some time ago by the German Colonial Industrial Committee 

 and noticed in The India Rubber World of February, last, 

 Rudolf Schlechter's report on the West African "Kautschuk ex- 

 pedition." There is now in progress a third expedition, in part 

 for the study of rubber planting, through the Far East, also in 

 charge of Herr Schlechter. 



STRAITS SETTLEMENTS.— ANNUAL REPORT ON THE BOTANIC 

 Gardens, for the year 1900, by H. N. Ridley, Esq., Director. Singapore: 

 Government Printing Oftice. 1901. IFolio. pp. ig.] 



This report is included among our list of publications on 

 India-Rubber on account of the interesting data which it con- 

 tains in relation to the experimental planting in the Malay 

 states, qf both rubber and Gutta-percha. 



There has been established at Caracas, Venezuela, a monthly 

 periodical entitled the Boletin de Agricultura y Cria [Agricul- 

 ture and Breeding], being the organ of the Superior Council of 

 Agriculture. It isconducted'by Francisco de P. Alamo. Each 

 of the four numbers which have reached this office contains 

 notes on '• caucho " or "goma elastica," though none of them 

 happen to relate to rubber in Venezuela. 



IN CURRENT PERIODICALS. 



N0TICIA8 acerca de plantas que dan Caucho. [From " As Ifeveas 

 ou seringueiras," by the director of the botanical garden at Rio de Jan- 

 eiro ]=5o/^//« de Agricultura y Ctia, Caracas. I-4 (April, 1901) 

 pp. 4-1-46. 



Electric Cable Malcing in Great Britain and on the Continent ^Cas- 

 sier's Magatim, New York. XXI-3 (July, igoi). pp. 194-208. 



Die Kautschukproduktion Afrikas. By Dr. E. Friedrich. [With 

 map.] Deutscher Geographischer Bliilttr. XXIV-2 (1901). pp. g-15. 



lions et Mauvais '" Castilloa." [Discussion of recent pamphlet by Th. 

 F. Koschny, of Costa Rica.] = /o»/'»fl/ d^ Agriculture Tropicale, Paris. 

 I-i (July 31, igoi). pp. 17-20. 



Reisebericht der Guttapercha- und Kautschuk- Expedition nach den 

 SUdsec-Kolonien. By R. Schlechter. [Relates mainly to rubber plan- 

 tations in Sumitra ] = /)■•/■ Trol'enphhiiner, Berlin. V-8 (August, 1901). 

 pp. 372-382. 



I^es Plantes i Caoutchouc au Jardin d'Essai de Conakry [French 

 Guiana] By M. Tessonnier. = /vVz/Ki? des Cultures Colonialts, Paris. 

 IX 84 (September 5, 1901.) pp. 132-136. 



Visile a une Usine Installee pour le Trait<ment Mecanique des Kccr- 

 ces a Caoutchouc. By M. Arnaud. = AVz/a^ des Cultures Coloniales, 

 Paris. i.\ 84 (September 5, 1901 ) pp. 136 139. 



Uber die Stammpflinze des Donde Kautschucks und ihre Prakiische 

 Bedeutung. By Dr. Walter Buise. [A report to the government of 

 German East Africa, on the importance of a new rubber species, dis- 

 covered in Donde land, and designated by Dr. Busse as Landolphia 

 Dondeetisis ; with plate ] = /?£■?■ Tropenpjlanzet , Berlin. V-9 (Septem- 

 ber, 1901.) pp. 403 4I0. 



Apropos du Castilloa Tunit (Hemsley) et d'autres('«j/!7/oa nouveaux. 

 By Eugene Poisson.==/(7?(r«a/ d' Agriculture Tropicale, Paris. I-2 

 (August 31. 1901.) pp. 35-37. 



Pourquoi les Ficus elastica d'Alger ne donnent pas de Cautchouc ? 

 [Correspondence of J. Vilbouchevitch and Charles Rivitre '\-=Journal 

 d AgricuUure Tropicale, Paris. 1-2 (August 31, 1901.) pp. 37-40. 



MINERAL RUBBER IN BRAKE SHOES. 



A NEW and interesting application of Mineral Rubber is 

 mentioned in connection with the cast iron brake shoe 

 such as is used for either steam or electrical railroads. It will 

 be noted that the face of the shoe is recessed, the cavities 

 being filled with a mixture of Mineral Rubber and iron filings. 

 This more than doubles the life of the shoe, and almost en- 

 tirely does away with the wear on the tread of the wheel. 

 There is also a marvelous increase in braking power. The 

 wisest way, perhaps, to illustrate this is to quote a few tests 

 made on one of the largest railway systems in the United States. 

 ENGINE NO. ^62— Equipped with A. b' M. Driver Brake Shoes, 

 October zi, ic/00 : 



No. da)s Regular Shoe 



Removed. Service. Average No. Days. 



Right front Nov. 25 35 14 



Right back Nov. 1 1 2J 7 



Left front Nov. 25 35 I4 



Leftback Nov. 18 28 7 



Total days service 119 42 



Average days per shoe 30 10^ 



ENGINE TANK' NO. j62 -Equipped with A &= At. Brake Shoes, 

 October 21, iqoo : 



Removed. Days' Service. 



Two shoes Nov. 15 25 ] 



One shoe Nov. 18 28 Average 



One shoe Nov. 25 35 | service 



— [-ordinary 

 Total days service 88 | shoe, 14 



— I days. 

 Average days service 28 J 



ENGINE NO. S46— Equipped with A. &^ Af. Driver Brake Shoes, 

 October 22, igoo : 



No. Days Their Shoe 



Removed. Service. Aver;ige. 



Right front Nov. 22 31 14 da)s. 



Right back Nov. ig 28 4 



Left front Nov. 22 31 14 



Left back Oct. 28 (lost) 6 4 



Total days service 96 36 



Average days service 30 9 



The brake shoe, by the way, is manufactured by the Allen & 

 Morrison Brake Shoe and Manufacturing Co., No. 604 Fisher 

 building, Chicago. 



