June i, 1910.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



313 



RUBBER 



RESINS. 



"Please say in your report how much pure Para rubber 

 there is in the vulcanized rubber." This request is frequently 

 found in the letter accompanying sam- 

 ples of rubber goods sent for analysis, 

 but I need hardly say that in the pres- 

 ent state of our knowledge it is quite impossible for the 

 analyst, expert or otherwise, to give the figure sought with 

 any degree of accuracy, and I think it is always advisable to 

 avoid answering the query at all. In the light, then, of this 

 deficiency in analytical procedure, it is interesting to note 

 that some progress appears to have been made recently in 

 Germany in filling up this hiatus. Messrs. F. W. Hinrichsen 

 and J. Marcusson have been studying the optical activity of 

 various rubber resins, and find a definite figure for the spe- 

 cific rotation in the bulk of such resins, except those derived 

 from Brazilian and Ceylon Para rubber. As one or two 

 other resins are also optically inactive, it is not possible to 

 say whether the rubber in a particular mixture is all Para 

 or not, but it is possible to say that whether there is any optical 

 activity the rubber is not all Para. At least, this is the 

 authors' conclusion, and it will hold until some other Ger- 

 man writes a paper showing that the data on which the con- 

 clusion is based are unreliable. The action of alkalies has 

 also been studied by the authors, and it has been found that 

 it is, in the main, the unsaponifiable part of the resins 

 which shows the optical activity. In a further paper by 

 Hinrichsen and Kindscher it is pointed out how the attempt 

 to arrive at the quality of rubber used in a mixing by the 

 determination of the resin content may easily lead to erro- 

 neous conclusions; ceresin was, for instance, causing an in- 

 crease of resin on vulcanization. In this paper the previous 

 statement as to the optical activity of the unsaponifiable part 

 of the rubber resins is re-affirmed on the authority of further 

 experiments. The matter is certainly of great interest, and 

 doubtless it will attract attention in laboratories where the 

 necessary optical instruments are available. As the whole 

 of the resin in gutta-jelutong is found to be insoluble in 

 semi-normal alcoholic potash, while the other resins men- 

 tioned all saponify to some extent, it would seem that we 

 have at disposal a method of saying whether jelutong alone 

 has been used in any particular compound. 



On April 6 the comparatively new building of the garment 

 department of the proofing works of Messrs. Franken- 

 stein & Co., at Newton Heath, Man- 

 jottings. Chester, were completely gutted by 



fire, though the walls of the building 

 remained standing. By the efforts of Manchester fire bri- 

 gade, aided by the works' brigade, the fire was prevented from 

 spreading to the main building where the bulk of the machin- 

 ery is situated. It is not so long ago that another fire oc- 

 curred at these works, the naphtha tanks somehow or other 

 becoming ignited. 



Colonel R. K. Birley, of Messrs. Charles Macintosh & Co., 

 Limited, is a director of the new Sablas (North Borneo) 

 Rubber, Limited. In this respect I have heard some sur- 

 prise expressed that the fact of his connection with the well- 

 known manufacturing firm was not indicated on the pros- 

 pectus. I don't know, however, that this matters at all in 

 these days, when all new rubber companies are oversubscribed 

 for on the strength of reports made by mining engineers. 

 In the rush to get shares the public do not stop to scrutinize 

 the list of directors, or to enquire whether a director knows 

 anything at all about rubber. 



The struggles of the stock brokers with the names of 

 some of the new rubber companies remind me of the efforts 

 made by ready-money bookmakers at Epsom when shouting 

 the foreign names of horses to the Derby crowd. "That's 

 what we call it. anyhow." said a broker testily when I remon- 

 strated with him on his pronunciation of a certain company. 



Despite the dismal results achieved so far by synthetic 

 rubber companies, the game goes on merrily, with new sup- 

 porters. The patent is to be sold for such a fabulous sum 

 of money that those who have a special offer of getting in at 

 bed rock for £25 or £50 frequently succumb to the temptation. 



Among the papers down for reading at the International 

 Congress of Cold to be held at Vienna, October 5, is one by 

 Mr. H. L. Terry, entitled, "Applications of Cold in the India 

 Rubber Industry." Among the large number of countries 

 which will be represented at the congress may be mentioned 

 the L T nited States, the Argentine Republic, Brazil, and Mexico. 



INCREASE IN THE GUAYULE TRADE. 



\Y/HILE no exact figures are available as to the exact amount 

 " of guayule rubber produced or sold, a fair idea can be 

 gained from the statistics of Mexican crude rubber generally. 

 Before the appearance of guayule in commerical quantities, the 

 exports of rubber from Mexico averaged less than 400,000 pounds 

 annually, and it is probably that they do not now exceed 600,000 

 pounds. It may be assumed, therefore, that the figures given 

 below, in excess of 600,000 pounds yearly, relate to guayule : 



United States Imports of Mexican Rubber. 



Pounds. Value. Average. 



Year ended June 30, 1904 366,104 $148,921 40.7 cents. 



Year ended June 30, 1905 352,690 185,951 52.7 cents. 



Year ended June 30, 1906 1,705.915 866,283 50.6 cents. 



Year ended June 30, 1907 7.175,097 2,877,022 40.1 cents. 



Year ended June 30. 1908 9.269,443 3,888,684 41.9 cents 



Year ended June 30, 1909 15,460,365 5,466,904 35.3 cents. 



Nine months, ended March 31, 



1910 16,905,054 7,017,010 41.5 cents. 



Mexican Exports of Crude Rubber. 



[Official Returns for Years ending June 30.] 



To— 1906-07. 1907-08. 1908-09. 



Germany pounds 2,016,230 2,067,872 172,905 



Belgium 33,2ii 196,084 736,435 



Spain 35,389 46,266 



LTnited States 8,128,380 9,788,962 12,167,767 



France 105,787 39,827 109,756 



Great Britain 1,855 230,351 45,874 



Canada 783 



British Honduras 114 961 220 



Panama 535 



Italy 282 



Cuba 425 



Total 10,321.248 12,372,241 13,233,382 



The exports for the four months of July, August, September 

 and October, 1009, are officially reported at 4,034,241 pounds. 

 Guayule Shrub. 

 The exportation of the guayule shrub, to be worked into rub- 

 ber elsewhere, is increasing at a rapid rate, in spite of the 

 export duty imposed. The figures are : 



Fiscal year 1906-07 pounds 1,471,226 



Fiscal year 1907-0S 2,844,325 



Fiscal year igo8-oo 6,649,416 



From the beginning the greater part of the shrub exported 

 has been taken by the United States, the share of this country 

 during the last year having been 77 per cent. The remainder 

 goes principally to Germany. 



The eighty-seventh birthday of Herr Geheimer Kommerzienrat 

 YVilhelm Herz, senior partner in the firm of S. Herz, rubber 

 goods manufacturers of Berlin, was celebrated on April 25. Mr. 

 Herz, who still fulfills his duties as president of the Berlin 

 chamber of commerce, was able to join in the celebrations and to 

 receive the congratulations offered him from near and far. The 

 chamber of commerce building was decorated with flags in his 

 honor. 



