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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



I September 1. 1914. 



fairly and fully given, A further impress of its origin is also 

 shown in the fact that the British colonies in Africa receive a 

 whole chapter, while Malaya and Ceylon, which require no 

 booming, figure only incidentally in the treatment of the subject. 



The story stops with the production of the crude gum, which 

 is not followed through the factory to the lumberman's boot. 

 to the dump, the reclaiming plant, to the tire of the traveler's 

 car, to the reclaimer's again and on to that mysterious region 

 as yet not reached; but, as the story deals with rubber and not 

 with its manufacture, it may be said to be fully told. Every 

 plant which is a source of commercial, as distinguished from 

 laboratory, rubber is fully treated and many curiously interest- 

 ing points are brought out. Thus it is shown that Hcvca has 

 no preference for swamps but likes a hot climate and constant 

 and abundant rainfall. This seems to explain its great success 

 in the Malay Peninsula, where the w-aters above the firmament 

 seem to be in permanently unstable equilibrium and a hundred 

 inches of rain come down every season. Castilloa, it is noted, 

 not only gives constantly larger returns as the tree matures, but 

 the proportion of resin, high in the young trees, rapidly dimin- 

 ishes as the trees grow older. The statistics of yield seem to 

 prove that those who have plantations of Castilloa already in 

 the ground should not be too pessimistic as to the future of their 

 investment. 



In Manihot, as in Hcvca and Castilloa. there are rubber-pro- 

 ducing species other than the ones best known, and it is possible 

 that Manihot Gladofii may prove less useful than one or more 

 of the other species. The African rubbers are treated at great 

 length and the reader who yearns to know all about "fair red 

 niggers," "white soaked niggers" and "pinky niggers" can learn 

 of them in these pages. The chemistry of rubber is briefly but 

 interestingly and adequately treated. In bringing the work 

 down to date, not only are the figures of production and acreage 

 given, but also the latest experimental conclusions about meth- 

 ods and profits of culture. 



ANNALS OF THE MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN. ST. LOUIS. 



Now that science forms part of a liberal education, there is 

 an increasing number of persons who can appreciate the above 

 named "Annals," with its varied contents, all the subjects having 

 a relation to botany in one form or another. Thus, Jacob R. 

 Schramm leads off with a contribution dealing with elementary 

 nitrogen in algae and in other forms. In a succeeding paper 

 G. L. Foster takes up the question of the sources of nitrogen for 

 marine algae. Five other papers by eminent authorities complete 

 the contents of this number, which is of marked interest to bot- 

 anists and other scientists. 



ROYAL COLONIAL INSTITUTE YEAR BOOK. 



Forty-six years have passed since the establishment, in 1868, 

 of the Royal Colonial Institute, following closely upon the 

 foundation of the Dominion of Canada. The object of the 

 Institute was the propagation of information in Great Britain and 

 the colonics regarding the latest and most authoritative facts as 

 to the British Empire. Starting with 174 members, it had by 

 1880 attained a membership of more than 1.100. The compre- 

 hensive year book for 1914 shows about 2,000 resident and about 

 7.000 non-resident fellows. The proceedings of the past year are 

 reported in detail, statistics of the British Colonies forming an 

 appropriate conclusion to the year-book. 



IMPERIAL INSTITUTE BULLETIN. 



The second quarterly Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, Lon- 

 don, for the year 1914 — April to June — deals among other sub- 

 jects with recent investigations at the Institute on Nyasaland 

 soils, flax from East Africa, and copal from British West Africa. 

 .\nother colonial possibility receives attention in an article by 

 Mr. W. Small, Government Botanist of Uganda, on "Coffee Cul- 

 tivation in Uganda," while "Tin Resources of Malaya and India" 



treats of that industry, to be supplemented by a later article on 

 "Tin in .Xustralia and Africa," thus covering the whole ground. 



MONOGEAVHS ON EUBBER MANUFACTURE, 



In a series of eight monographs the "Gummi-Zeitung" is pub- 

 lishing handbooks to the principal sections of the rubber industry, 

 the subjects including the whole range of practical rubber tech- 

 nology. From the first two booklets, issued by the "Union 

 Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft," of Berlin, the scope of the work 

 is to be seen. If carried out in the manner intended, it will form 

 a valuable addition to current rubber literature. 



Handbook No. 1 deals with "Machines for the Manufacture of 

 Rubber Goods," the authors being Herr Taubert ("engineer ) and 

 Dr. Fritz Frank. In its 56 pages, with 52 illustrations, the subject 

 is comprehensively treated, precedence being given to a general 

 review of power installations, followed by a description of wash- 

 ing, drying and mixing plants: after which come hose-making, 

 spreading and other machines. 



Next in order are vulcanizing machines (furnaces, presses and 

 molds), as well as machines for the manufacture of hard rubber, 

 for vulcanizing sheet rubber and for making molded seamless 

 articles. 



.\mong the machinery specially referred to are hydraulic pumps, 

 used in pressing and vulcanization in varicais dimensions, with 

 and without accumulators, as well as winding apparatus. With an 

 average of nearly one illustration to every page, this first hand- 

 book covers a wide field, and indicates a large amount of pains- 

 taking work on the part of the authors. 



The second handbook received. "Die Fabrikation des Bereifungs 

 Materials," by Herr E. Regler (engineer) and Dr. Fritz Frank, 

 handles in similar detail the process of tire manufacture, under 

 the two broad divisions of solid and pneumatic tires, containing 

 72 pages with 76 illustrations. In the first place the use of solid 

 tires for horse-drawn vehicles is dealt with, followed by a dis- 

 cussion of their employment on motor trucks. The subjects of 

 vulcanizing them on a steel band and of fixing a steel band on 

 rubber, terminate the consideration of solid tires, which occupies 

 a quarter of the booklet. 



Under the heading of pneumatic tires are eight sections, includ- 

 ing bicycle tires, pneumatic tires for aeroplanes, pneumatic tires 

 for motor trucks with steel rivets and with leather anti-skid 

 devices, air-tubes for automobile tires, as well as Palmer cord 

 tires and other special constructions. In the concluding chapters 

 the testing and treatment of tires are dealt with, a special de- 

 scription being given of repair shop machinery, equipment and 

 operation. 



Improved roads have been to a great extent due to the use of 

 solid tires on motor trucks, such highw'ays being a primary con- 

 dition of successful tire operation. These brief extracts will serve 

 to indicate the value of the two booklets issued and the prospec- 

 tive interest to rubber experts of the other handbooks still to 

 appear. 



A BOOK ON DUTCH GUIANA. 



The Indi.\ Rubber World has received a dozen copies of a 

 little book of sixty pages entitled "Netherland Guiana. South 

 America, Its Development. Resources and Possibilities." by 

 James L. O'Connor of Paramaribo. This book was prepared 

 chiefly for use at the recent London Exhibition. It gives an 

 ample description of the resources of Dutch Guiana and has a 

 number of pertinent illustrations, .\nyone who is particularly 

 interested in the subject may on application to this office have 

 a copy of this book gratis, as long as the small quantity lasts. 



THE GARDENS' BULLETIN— STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 



In the June 20 issue of "The Gardens' Bulletin." published at 

 Singapore "as material becomes available.'" are grouped items of 

 interest to the rubber industry, as well as information regarding 

 other articles exported from the Straits. Of the nine rubber trees 

 planted in the Botanic Gardens, Singapore, in 1877 — some of 



