666 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



Jive 1, 1921 



the activities and the dissociation constants of the original sub- 

 stances. 



2. Substances which decompose or dissociate info other sub- 

 stances of acid character, or react with other components of 

 the mixture to form substances of acid character, do not accel- 

 erate unless a neutralizing base or salt is present. 



3. Vulcanization is effected by heating rubber in a closed system 

 with concentrated aqueous solution of ammonium sulphides. 



THE EDITOR'S BOOK TABLE 



"INDI.A RUBBER." BY HENRY P. STEVE.NS, M. A.. I'll. D., F. I. C. 

 Reprinted from the Reports of the Progress cf Applied Chemistry, 

 Vol. \*, 1920, iss:ied by the Society of Chemical Industries, London. 



' I 'o the busy man this summary of what has been recorded in 

 rubber literature during the past year is particularly welcome. 

 The author Hnds no event comparable to Peachey's cold vulcaniz- 

 ing process ; but he notes much interesting progress in various 

 lines of research, as, for instance, on the reactions among the 

 materials employed in the Peachey process. 



As to production of the raw material, he estimates that planta- 

 tion rubber now represents 89.S per cent of the world's output, 

 and that the excess this year will likely be 50,000 tons, with a 

 total plantation production of 343.000 tons as compared with 

 302,000 in 1919. There is but little change in the output of wild 

 rubber, especially Brazilian. 



Commenting on plantation researches, he cites specific gravity 

 tests that seem to reveal incipient disease in latex-bearing trees 

 and tells how to improve them. He tells of tapping experiments 

 toward obtaining the best latex ; the effect on subsequent vulcani- 

 zation of soaking coagulum; the inability to correct mould trouble 

 on sheets ; the effect of air in maturing rubber ; the question of 

 the superior uniformity of fine hard Para over plantation rubber; 

 how the vulcanizing mass expands in proportion to the high rub- 

 ber content and the extent of milling; what results have attended 

 the extensive study of accelerators, and why some results of much 

 practical value are expected from e.xperiments being made on 

 the reaction of raw rubber to the bromine addition product. 



Of much interest is the author's view of the tests made with 

 compounding ingredients, zinc oxide and carbon black being es- 

 pecially favorable; on the aging of raw and vulcanized rubber; 

 on the interpretation of the rubber stress-strain curves ; on syn- 

 thetic rubber, which still fails to excel the most inferior dark 

 plantation crepe when vulcanized ; and of the newest methods 

 of estimating sulphur in vulcanized rubber, the action of antimony 

 in compounding, on modes of estimating the rubber hydrocarbon 

 in raw and vulcanized rubber, and of determining cellulose in vul- 

 canized products. 



RUBBER, RESINS. PAINTS AND VARNISHES. BY R. S. MORRELL. 

 M. A., Ph. D., F. I. C, and A. de Waele, A. I. C. D. Van Nostrand 

 Co.. New York, 1920. Cloth, 236 pages, 5% by 8'A inches. 



This is one of a series of text-books on the chemical indus- 

 tries from the chemical rather than the engineering stand- 

 point, giving a general survey of the industry, showing how 

 chemical principles have been applied and the influence of new 

 inventions. 



The volume is divided into five parts: (1) The Rubber Hydro- 

 carbons; (2) Drying Oils; (3) Resins and Pitches; (4) Pig- 

 ments and Paints; (5) 'Varnishes. The section on rubber dis- 

 cusses the British rubber plantation industry and the work of 

 the Agricultural Departments in the Far East. This is followed 

 by an account of the formation in nature, the distribution of the 

 raw materials of rubber and the rubber-bearing species. The 

 physical and chemical properties of latex are treated at length, 

 and also the chemistry and physical testing of rubber. Hot and 

 cold vulcanization are mentioned briefly, and the manufacture 

 of a few typical articles briefly described. 



Gutta percha is reftrrtd to and the subject of rubber substi- 

 tutes touched upon. Rubber-seed oils, as yet undeveloped indus- 

 trially, are destined to have well-merited industrial importance, 

 and receive in this book a condensed account of yield, composi- 

 tion and uses. The important matter of diseases and pests has 

 been carefully studied, both in Ceylon and in Malaya, and the 

 most important ones are summarized. The rubber section closes 

 with a discussion of synthetic rubber and a bibliography. 



The section on resins and pitches will have interest for the 

 rubl>er chemist in connection with their use in rubber comi>ound- 

 ing, and the same is true of the section on paints and pigments. 



"THE FINANCIER RfBBER SHARE HANDBOOK." SEVENTEENTH 

 edition, .Tannar>-, 1921. The Financier and BnllionisT. Limited. 49 Wool 

 E.xchanRe. London, E. C. 2. Cloth, 928 paces. 4^ l-y 7 vj inches. 



"The Financier Rubber Share Handbook" has long been the au- 

 thoritative source of information on the financial affairs of British 

 rubber plantation companies. It is of interest to note in the pref- 

 ace to the present edition that the present crisis in the plantation 

 industry may yet prove a blessing by bringing about closer unity 

 in the industry for control over further planting whereby produc- 

 tion can be held in adjustment to the world's requirements as a 

 safeguard against the recurrence of crises. More economical 

 methods will be evolved and prohibitive labor costs be modified 

 Estates operating under undue disadvantages of soil, climate, etc., 

 will go out of cultivation under the law of survival of the fittest, 

 which will operate to an extent limited only by the duration of 

 the crisis. 



"GENERAL COMMODITY SALES TAX." BY DR. HENRY A. E. 

 Chandler. Commerce Monthly, March, 1921, issued by the National 

 Bank of Corrraerce, New York. 



A timely and comprehensive dissertation on the proposition to 

 impose a levy on the sales of all merchandise in order to augment 

 the Federal revenue. The economist of the noted financial insti- 

 tution points out that the receipts of the Government, now in- 

 sufficient to meet its immense war obligations, could be substan- 

 tially increased and inequities in the present fiscal system largely 

 corrected by the levying of an impost on sales to the extent of 

 3/10 of one per cent, and in no case in excess of J4 of one per 

 cent, instead of at the rate of one per cent as some have urged. 

 Dr. Chandler regards such new source of raising revenue as the 

 least objectionable means of raising money indirectly, but he 

 argues that as the effect of the tax would be to throw the larger 

 part of the burden upon the masses who have the smaller in- 

 comes, such a levy should be minimized as far as possible so as 

 not to cause undue hardship. Even at 3/10 of one per cent he 

 estimates the yield would be about $516,000,000; and with such 

 a moderate rate few could reasonably expect e.xemptions and the 

 task of collection would accordingly be much simplified. 



"A LIST OF THE FUNGI OF THE MALAY PENINSULA." BY T. 

 F. Chipp. Botanic Gardens' Bulletin, .Singapore. Straits Settlements. 

 Jani'ary 7. 1921, Nis. 9, 10, 11. Paper, 107 pages, 6 by 9Vi inches. 



.\ work of much scientific interest and potential value to pro- 

 ducers, shippers, dealers, and consumers of crude rubber, is this 

 complete enumeration and description of the fungus growths of 

 Malaya. The author amplifies the information he conveyed in 

 his monograph, "The Fungus Flora of Hcvca brasiliensis," and 

 adds much to that imparted by other mycologists who have done 

 notable research work in identifying the many moulds, mildews, 

 rusts, smuts, and various forms of low plant growths which at- 

 tack rubber trees and their product. 



The work of the mycologists and those aiding them in findinjf 

 the cause and cure of the various diseases which attack latex- 

 bearing trees and cause the spotting on prepared rubber has as- 

 sumed great importance. Hence it is gratifying to note this im- 

 portant contribution to the literature on this subject, which can- 

 not fail to stimulate closer study of the most effective means for 

 lessening the ravages of fungoid growths on rubber estates. 



