THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[July 1, 1911. 



is extracted with benzine. As this necessitates that tlie rubber 

 be dissolved it has not much "nerve," but the process is suitable 

 for use with guayule or similar rubber plants. 



As examples of the sixth class, where only enough naphtha or 

 rubber solvent is used to swell the rubber, there are cited the 

 French patent to Worms and Flamant, No. 382,571 (1907), who 

 use a mixed solvent with enough alcohol to keep the rubber 

 from solution. The mixing must be according to one's experi- 

 ence. There is also shown an apparatus patented by the 

 Caoutchouc Co., with a mixer and two tanks above; one con- 

 tains the gelatinous rubber and the other the solvent. The mixer 

 is connected to a still and to a vacuum pump separately. The 

 description is poor and the apparatus is inoperative as pictured. 



As an interesting innovation the French patent, No. 404,307 

 (1909), of the Caoutchouc Co. is mentioned as treating with a 

 little benzine to soften and swell the rubber and make it 

 gelatinous but not dissolve it : presumably acetone was then used 

 for extracting resins. 



Joly (Belgian patent Xo. 213.772, 1909) uses tar oil for soften- 

 ing the ruliber. 



As examples of special mechanical apparatus used for mixing, 

 etc., are cited the French patent, No. 390,330, of July 1908, and 

 the apparatus of Worms and Flamant which has shelves to put 

 the rubber on. 



The German patent to von Stechow (1508) shows shelves also 

 to keep the rubber sheets apart. 



Only a hasty summary of the above processes is given, for, 

 in the articles which appeared in The Indi.\ Rubber World in 

 June, 1909, there was described, as an example of the first process 

 as above, the patent to Austin Day, issued in 1859. He used 

 alkali to purify crude rubbers. 



As an example of the second process, there was cited the 

 patent to Wilmonski of 1901, who used naphtha at 60° C. for 

 treating gutta. 



The Lawrence patent covers the third, sixth and seventh 

 methods, for he uses alcohol for purifying guayule which had 

 previously been extracted from the wood with naphtha, and thus 

 gets the mixed solvent, and has a mixing pan for extracting 

 and various tanks to store different solvents. 



As an example of the fourth process, attention is called to 

 United States patent No. 820,216, as illustrated and described in 

 this jouritel in the article referred to. This shows an extrac- 

 tion plant consisting of a series of extraction vessels through 

 which the solvent flows in series to saturate itself before it is 

 redistilled and recovered. 



The special solvents recommended are the acetic esters of the 

 alcohols, particularly methyl acetate and ethyl acetate, with a 

 protective solvent such as alcohol or acetone. These are better 

 solvents than acetone alone and do not dissolve the gum. 



The same article gives estimates of the cost of extraction and 

 states that a recovery of 99 per cent, of the solvent may be ob- 

 tained at each treatment. 



The sixth process, or the use of rubber solvents in sufficient 

 quantity to only swell it or make it gelatinous, has been in 

 constant use in the United States on a large scale at one plant 

 at least for six years, and now several plants are using this 

 modification. This was the first process to be worked in the 

 United States on a considerable scale. 



The seventh process, or the use of shelves for holding thin 

 sheets of rubber while deresinating has been tried several times 

 in the United States. But when the rubber is softened by heat 

 in the deresination it will not retain its shape, and therefore this 

 expedient has been discarded in favor of a mixing device such 

 as those shown in the patents to Hood, Lawrence and Eves, as 

 quoted. 



The fifth process is only suita1)Ie for tliose places where 

 guayule grows. 



\\'e may therefore conclude that if the authors of the article 

 under review have given all that is known of the European art 

 as it now exists, it may be assumed that the United States has 

 made more technical progress and now leads in this industry. 



The authors conclude with the following remarks, which are 

 applicable to the American situation as well as that in Europe: 



"Botanists and explorers are year by year discovering new 

 plants with a latex containing more or less rubber — usually less — 

 and deresination would make these into useful rubbers. Mixing, 

 like solution, may alter rubber, but by proper treatment resins 

 are removed and 'nervy' rubber is left of excellent quality. 



"Unfortunately this new art is difficult to study, as only a few 

 specialists have a knowledge of it and are exploiting it for their 

 own remuneration. There are also many secrets— pseudo secrets 

 — never told or published even in patents. These secrets or mys- 

 teries are considered necessary. Usuall.v, the "secret" consists in 

 merely following out well-known plans, or, in some cases, in using 

 processes patented by others. In other cases mysteries are made 

 of the process used for fear that others will copy it. 



"The deresination industry is like the plants which grow in 

 the shade. Some buy cheap products and sell the purified rubber 

 as a natural product. We know a factory which closely counter- 

 feits all marks and moulds of the natural rubbers. This ruse is 

 not novel ; Gutenberg sold his first printed copies of the Bible 

 as manuscripts. Thus one might suppose that the industry of 

 deresination did not exist or was only in an embryonic stage. 

 This is not true ; it has existed for some years. Many works 

 are deresinating large and important stocks of rubber, but they 

 say nothing of it." 



The authors give as the necessary steps of deresination the 

 following operations : 



First — Washing or mastication. 



Second — Drying by a water solvent, as Pyridine. (Acetone is 

 better.) 



Third — Mixing and heating to assist the true resin extracting 

 operation. 



Fourth — The recovery of the solvents used, 



A supplementary note states that it has been found that after 

 the resins are extracted a treatment with soda or other alkali 

 is beneficial in that it removes albuminoids and oxydases which 

 would otherwise render the extracted product in time black and 

 o.xydize it. 



JERSEY EMPLOYERS LIABILITY ACT, 



On the Fourth of July a new liability act will go in force in 

 New Jersey which is a bit revolutionar}'. For example — it shifts 

 the burden of proof of contributary negligence to the shoulders 

 of the employers. It also establishes definitely, compensation for 

 slight injuries such as have not in the past been reported. Some 

 of the points are that the negligence of a fellow employee, or 

 the fact that the injured person assumed risk incidental to the 

 employment, make no difference, nor does the fact of a contract 

 for the employment release the employer from liability. The 

 amount in the event of accident is very definitely stated. For 

 the loss of a thumb it is 50 per cent, of the daily wages during 

 60 weeks ; for the loss of a third finger, 50 per cent, of the daily 

 w'ages during 20 weeks. The loss of a phalange of thumb or 

 finger is reckoned to be equal to the loss of half of such member. 

 Loss of toe, foot, hand, leg, arm, etc., are specifically provided 

 for. The law also provides for compensation to widows; in 

 fact, nearly all relations backward and forward for three gen- 

 erations. 



Notices are posted in all of tlie ruliber factories and work 

 shops tliroughout Jersey, and both employers and employees are 

 studying them very diligently. 



It is interesting to note that an act similar to this was recently 

 declared unconstitutional in the state of New York. 



