January 1, 1821 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



235 



A Glossary of Words and Terms Used in the Rubber Industry 



By Henry C. Pearson 



THAT a great industry, the most individual in existence, should 

 create its own technical terms and constantly coin new ones 

 is inevitable. That such terms should demand classification, 

 definition and standardization is evident. Up to the present time, 

 however, the exact definition of words, terms, and phrases in 

 common use in rubber manufacture has been lacking. The few 

 attempts that have been made towards such definitions have per- 

 haps pointed the way, but were abandoned before completion. 



With a certain reluctance, but in response to many requests, 

 the Editor of The India Rubber World has assumed the task of 

 rubber dictionary making. The purpose of publishing the defini- 

 tions in instalments in the pages of this magazine is to invite 

 criticism, additions and suggestions. In other words, all who are 

 interested are invited to become collaborators in this important 

 work. It should be noted that the plan is not to explain words 

 with encyclopedic completeness, but rather to furnish brief and 

 accurate descriptive definitions that will perhaps in time become 

 standard. 



Words and terms in general use will be given, and certain 

 obsolete words as well, provided they have an explanatory or 

 historic value. It is planned to cover in this work not on<y words 

 relating to crude rubber, but those used in the various lines of 

 manufacture into which the rubber industry is divided. 



India Rltbber (CoHib). An elastic gum produced — • 



(a) By the coagulation of the milk or latex of various trees, 



vines, shrubs and plants. 



(b) By extraction from the tissues of certain non-lactiferous 

 vines and shrubs. 



(c) Chemically from various bases, as isoprene. 



Called india rubber (Indian rubber) by Priestley in 1772, because 

 pieces of the gum from India were found excellent for rubbing 

 out pencil marks. 



India rubber is called in French, cacoutchouc ; in Italian, caut- 

 schouc ; in German, kautschuk or gummi ; in Spanish, caucho ; 

 in Portuguese, xirringa or borracha; in Latin, gummi elasticum. 



There are about a hundred species of plants belonging to num- 

 erous families from which india rubber is obtained commercially. 

 In most of these rubber is found in the milk or latex (numerous 

 globules suspended in a watery fluid) occurring in small tubes 

 located chiefly in the bark. This latex is obtained by cutting 

 incisions in the bark. The change from the liquid to the solid 

 caoutchouc, called coagulation, is without much alteration of the 

 composition other than the elimination of water. It is accom- 

 plished mainly by smoking, by acids, by alkaline or astringent 

 plant juices or by air drying. Rubber from non-lactiferous plants 

 is extracted by simple mechanical means or by the destruction of 

 the wood fiber by chemicals. 



SYNONYMS AND GENERAL TERMS 



RtlBBER. A common term for india rubber, but lacking in exact- 

 ness as the same word has various other meanings. 



African Rubber. Crude rubber from the continent of .^frica 

 and the island of Madagascar. 



Allied Gums. See Pseudo rubbers. 



American Rubber. Crude rubber produced in any part of 

 North, South or Central America or the islands adjacent thereto. 



Artificial Rubber. Applied strictly, refers to synthetic rubber, 

 Is widely used, however, in describing products termed rubber 

 substitutes. 



Asiatic RtresER. (East Indian Rubber.) Crude rubber from 

 Malaya, India, the Netherland East Indies. Borneo and the 

 Philippme Islands. 



Australian Rubber. Wild crude rubber from New Caledonia 

 and Oceanica. 



Blended Rubber. .X term used by Huber to designate rubber 

 made from a mixture of latices as Hevea and Sapium. In manu- 

 facturers' parlance, a mixture of different grades by massing on 

 heated rolls. 



Caoutchouc. Probably derived from the South American Indian 

 word cahuca, generally used by the French and to a degree by the 

 English writers. 



Central American Rubber. Crude rubber from the CasHlloa 

 (not including caucho), produced in Mexico, Central America, 

 and some of the northern states of South America. 



Ceylon Rubber. A term formerly applied to plantation rubber 

 of Asiatic origin. Now confined to the rubber produced on the 

 Island of Ceylon. 



Coagulated Rubber. Rubber derived from the milk or latex of 

 plants. 



Commercial Rubber. See Crude Rubber. 



Crude Rubber. A trade term for all grades of uncompounded 

 rubber. 



Deresinated Rubber. In highly resinous rubbers the resin and 

 the rubber arc separated, the two crude products being marketed, 

 one as rubber resin, the other as deresinated rubber. 



Dry Rubber. A selling term that means comparatively dry, 

 and refers to old, wild rubber. 



East India Rltbber. See Asiatic Rubber. 



Elastic Resin. A common term for rubber among the early 

 investigators. 



Extracted Rubber. Rubber extracted from the bark or tissues 

 of plants, not latex producers. 



Gum Elastic. An excellent descriptive name used by Charles 

 Goodyear. 



Indian Rubber. See India Rubber. 



Java Rubber. At one time the term under which East Indian 

 rubber from the Ficus elastica was generally known — also called 

 Assam rubber. 



Lard Rubber. An obsolete term for Central American rubber. 



Liquid Rubber. Hancock's designation of rubber latex. .Mso 

 used as descriptive of certain fluxes used in compounding. 



Natural Rubber. The product of trees, vines, shrubs, and 

 plants only. 



New Rubber. Rubber that has been recently coagulated. 



Old Rubber. Rubber that has been long in storage or transit. 

 Used also to designate vulcanized scrap. 



Plantation Rubber. Rubber produced by cultivation, chiefly 

 from the Hevea species, but also includes the product of planted 

 Castilloa, Manihot, Ficus, Funtumia, etc. 



PoLYPHRENE. A descriptive name suggested by the late Dr. Carl 

 Dtto Weber. 



FsEUDO Rubbers. (Allied gums.) Resinous gums that contain 

 neither rubber nor gntta percha, hut are used in compounding. 



Pure Gum. See Pure Rubber. 



Pure Rubber. (Pure gum.) Commercially; rubber that con- 

 tains no admixtures other than ingredients anecessary for vulcani- 

 zation or for solution and vulcanization. Chemically; rubber from 

 which all moisture, resins, proteids, etc., have been removed. 



Raw Rubber. See Crude Rubber. 



Resin Rubber. An obsolete term for jelutong or Fontianak. 



Rubber Latfx. (Rubber milk.) A watery fluid varying in 

 color from white to amber, contained in the bark, leaves and to 

 a degree in the cellular tissue of plants. In density it varies from 

 that of a thin fluid like .skim milk to thick cream. Its specific 

 gravity varies from 1.02 to 1.41, A typical analysis of Hevea latex 

 is: water .S6 per cent; albuminoid extracts, etc, 12 per cent; india 

 rubber 32 per cent. 



