May 1, 1914.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



421 



The Editor's Book Table. 



WHO'S WHO IN THE RUBBER WORLD. 1914. EDITED BY A. 

 Staines Manders. Published at the Exhibition Offices, 75, Chancery 

 Lane. London, W.C. [Octavo, 186 pages, board covers. Price ?s. 6d.] 



Tl I l'".KE are two points regarding any industry that an intel- 

 ligent man with an inquiring mind wants to know about: 

 First, who's who in the industry ; and second, what's what. 

 And of these two points the first is by far the more interesting. 

 The book, "Who's Who in the Rubber World," just sent out 

 from London, gives all this information as far as the great rubber 

 industry is concerned. It is edited by A. Staines Manders, pret- 

 ty well known to every rubber inan by reason of the fact that 

 he was organizing manager of the London shows held in 1908 

 and 1911, and also of the London Rubber Exposition, whicli will 

 occur next June and July — not to inention the Rubber Exposi- 

 tion held in the Grand Central Palace in New York City in the 

 fall of 1912. His association with these exhibition enterprises, 

 covering the last six years, has brought him into contact with 

 practically everyone of importance in every 1)ranch of the rubber 

 industry, from Akron to the Pliilippines. or, if you prefer it al- 

 literativoly. from Boston to Borneo. 



The first hundred pages of the 1)0ok are devoted to short 

 biographies of leading rubber men the world over, and as there 

 are tw'elve or fifteen of these biographies to a page, it will be 

 seen at a glance that Mr. Manders has included in this little 

 book, in abbreviated forin, the life story of not far from 1,400 or 

 1,500 rubber men. The rest of the book is given over to informa- 

 tion regarding companies and firins and associations connected 

 with tlie industry — all in classified form, each classification being 

 arranged geographically, so that any desired information can be 

 very readily found. The list of rubber associations occupies 

 thirty pages. A number of these are planters' associations, and 

 the names of the officers and cotnmittee members are given. In 

 the case of rubber clubs with large memberships only the naines 

 of the officers are mentioned. 



The feature of the book, however, that will undoubtedly at- 

 tract the most attention and prove most interesting is the de- 

 partment devoted to personal biography. This enaliles anyone 

 in the trade to get a great deal of information about associates 

 and acquaintances whom he may have known for years and yet 

 regarding whose history he has known but few details ; and as a 

 book of reference it goes without saying that "Who's Who" 

 will prove most valuable. 



IN Dl.\ RUBBER LABOR.\TORY PR.'VCTICE. BY W. A. CASPARI, 

 B.Sc. (Vict.), Ph.D. (Jena), F.I.C. Illustrated. Macmillan & Co., 

 Litnited. [Octavo, 191 pages and index, cloth covers. Price 5s. net.] 



TO chemists of general training who may be called upon to 

 deal with india rubber in its various forms, "India Rubber 

 Laboratory Practice," by W. A. Caspari, B. Sc, Ph. D., F. L C, 

 will be found a source of much specialized information on this 

 subject, as it contains strictly practical descriptions of methods 

 which have been practiced by the author in the course of the 

 last ten years, and found to be satisfactory. 



Unlike most works of its kind, this book contains but slight 

 mention of the botany and theoretical chemistry of rubber, or 

 of the production of raw material and the mechanical testing 

 of manufactured rubber, the first chapter only being devoted 

 to sources of production, the various forms in which the raw 

 rubber is received by the manufacturer and analysis of the 

 crude or washed product. Chapter 2, which covers 18 pages, 

 contains 17 illustrations, with full descriptions, of the machinery 

 and apparatus required in a well equipped rubber laboratory, as 

 well as the method of their operation. These include washing 

 and mixing mills, drying ovens, etc. Rubber diluents — factice, 

 bitumens, pitches and resins ; solid compounding materials — ac- 



celerators, fillers, pigments (white, red, black and other), and 

 miscellaneous accessories— naphtha, vulcanizing agents, oils, 

 waxes and fabrics— their physical properties and individual 

 analysis, are successively treated, these being followed by a 

 description of processes for arriving at the specific gravity 

 or density of various substances. Instruction is given for the 

 analysis of manufactured rubber, organic, which it divides into 

 three classes, viz. : Heat-cured goods and ebonite ; cold-cured 

 goods; doughs and solvents. Analysis of manufactured rubber, 

 inorganic, is also described, with illustrations of the required 

 apparatus. Gutta percha and balata, their source, analysis, etc., 

 form tlie suljject of chapter 9, which concludes the volume, an 

 appendix containing 7 tables covering the analytical character- 

 istics of crude rubber sorts, conversion of crude into washed 

 rubl)er prices, etc. 



In a review but brief mention can of course be made of the 

 subjects treated, many of which in the book itself are gone 

 into to the fullest possible extent, with no detail of importance 

 omitted. The possibilities ofTcrcd as a source of information 

 and instruction in methods and practices employed by one 

 familiar with the chemistry of rubber will no doubt, however, 

 l)c suggested by this brief outline and commend the work to the 

 favorable consideration of those less experienced in treatment 

 of this important commercial article in laboratory practice. 



IIIE TWO AMERICAS. BY GENERAL RAFAEL REYES, EX-PRESI- 

 dcnt of the Republic of Colombia. Translated from the Spanish by 

 Leopold Grahamc. With 31 illustrations and photographs. New York: 

 Frederick .\. Stokes & Co. [Octavo, 324 pages, board covers. Price, 

 $2.50 net.) 



\T() one will be disposed to deny these two .statements, viz. — 

 that the great cynosure for the world's attention at the 

 present time, and probably for some months to come, is 

 the Panama Canal; and secondly, that the most marked 

 material development of the present century will take place in 

 South America. So it behooves every man who wishes to be 

 familiar with great world events, and particularly every Ameri- 

 can business man — using the term "business" in a large way — 

 to acquaint himself with the great republics to the south, .^nd 

 there is no way in which he can luake a better start on this 

 course of education than by reading the book "The Two 

 Americas" by General Reyes, ex-president of the Republic of 

 Colombia. 



While the book is entitled "The Two .Xmcricas," very little 

 attention is devoted to North America— and this is fortunate, 

 as to all American readers at least North America is familiar 

 ground. General Reyes has spent, at one time and another, 

 both in private and in official capacity, much time in the United 

 States, so that he knows the general way in which people of 

 this coimtry view the South Americans. He has found — speak- 

 ing of the average citizen — an unfortunate ignorance in this 

 country of South American history, conditions and develop- 

 ment. That undoubtedly has been the case hitherto, but with 

 the opening of the canal and the tremendous opportunities that 

 will follow in its wake, no one can hereafter call himself well 

 informed who does not have an approximately accurate idea of 

 matters in the South. 



Primarily, the writing of this book was evidently undertaken 

 from a large sense of patriotism. While a Colombian, General 

 Reyes is even more a South American. His sympathy em- 

 braces the entire continent, from Caracas to Magellan, and he 

 has written this book not only to show to the people of South 

 America what all other South Americans are like, but to show 

 to the people of the w-orld. and especially to those of North 

 .•\merica, what South America really is. 



