450 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[June 1, 1912^ 



The Editor's Book Table. 



PEEPS AT INDUSTRIES— RUBBER BY EDITH A. BROWNE. 

 Adam and Charles Black: London. [Cloth covers. Svo. Pp. SS, 

 24 full-page illustrations.] 



THE reviewer has perused this particular book with a double 

 pleasure, first, because whatever Miss Browne writes makes 

 good reading, and in the second place, because she is num- 

 bered among the most esteemed contributors to The India 

 Rubber World, 



This is not a technical volume, intended for rubber experts. 

 It is just what its name implies — a peep at the great rubber 

 industry. As a matter of fact, it really is more than its name 

 implies, for it is more than a peep ; it is an intelligent survey of 

 the whole rubber field, and it gives the general reader all the 

 information he needs in order to put him in a position fully to 

 appreciate the scope and importance of this great industry. 



While there are only 88 pages of text, the author has succeeded 

 in weaving into those pages a great deal of information. "Weav- 

 ing" is quite the proper term to use, for this information is not 

 tacked on here and there, but is an integral part of an exceed- 

 ingly interesting story, which has many romantic threads run- 

 ning through it. As an illustration of this latter characteristic 

 may be cited the opening chapters of the book, where an imagin- 

 ery but undoubtedly accurate picture is drawn of the way in 

 which the aborigines — many years, possibly hundreds of years — 

 before the first line of rubber history was written, discovered 

 the peculiar properties of the latex of the rubber tree. 



The author describes the gathering of rubber in its wild estate, 

 and on the plantation. She shows the methods of tapping, and 

 coagulating in getting the Hevea rubber of Brazil, the Castilloa 

 of Mexico, the Sapium of British Guiana, the Funtumia and 

 Landolphia rubber of equatorial Africa, and the methods of tap- 

 ping and coagulating in vogue on the plantations of the Middle 

 East. One chapter is devoted to a visit to a raw rubber factory, 

 and gives a description of the method of converting the latex 

 into the rubber of commerce as it is pursued on the more im- 

 portant estates. 



The 24 full-page illustrations greatly enhance the value of the 

 book, as they run the whole gamut of rubber gathering from 

 the tapping of the wild trees in the South American and African 

 forests to the more orderly method of work in vogue on the 

 plantations. These illustrations have been selected with dis- 

 criminating care, with reference not only to their subject matter 

 but to their artistic and photographic excellence. 



As the name indicates, this book is one of a series of brief 

 surveys of great industries — this being the second, a book on 

 sugar being the first. If the other books of this series are 

 written with equal skill— if they mingle information and enter- 

 tainment as felicitously as the author has done in this book — 

 the series will certainly meet with great success. 



THE CHEMISTRY OF THE RUBBER INDUSTRY. BY HAROLD E. 

 Potts, M. Sc. London: Constable & Co., Limited, 1912. [Cloth. Svo. 

 146 pages.] 



As rubber has been justly styled "the colloid par excellence." 

 Mr. Potts' able treatise appropriately starts with an outline of 

 the colloidal phenomena connected with that substance, thus 

 leading us to the chemistry of the rubber industry in its prac- 

 tical application. 



The work of the chemist begins, ^vhen the latex has been ob- 

 tained, with the selection of the most suitable method of coagula- 

 tion and subsequent treatment, in order to produce rubber of the 

 best quality and as uniform as possible in its properties. The 

 colloid ; being thus a collodial problem, 

 with special reference to the protein which is present. Coagula- 



tion (or the coalescence of the rubber globules) apparently de- 

 pends upon the removal of the protective film of protein or other 

 colloid ; being thus a colloidal problem. 



Five different methods of coagulation are described in their 

 general character and subdivisions — by heat, creaming, chemical 

 agents, beating and soaking, and extraction with solvents. 



W bile there is a fair constancy in the properties of wild Para, 

 the variations in the general appearance of plantation rubber and 

 in its behavior on vulcanization form the chief problems now 

 confronting the planter. The quality of the latex on the same 

 plantation varies not only with the age of the tree, but also 

 with its location. Hence Mr. Potts suggests that some plan 

 should be devised by which the method of coagulation can be 

 adjusted according to the quality of the latex. 



After dealing with the question of washing, Mr. Potts takes 

 up the subject of the constituents of technically pure rubber, 

 which is treated in detail. Then follows a discussion of loss in 

 washing and of moisture, as well as of the proportions of resin, 

 insoluble matter, nitrogen, ash and rubber itself, as revealed by 

 analysis. Gutta-percha and balata are likewise considered from 

 the same points of view^ 



The fact that rubber manufacture has been defined as the 

 "art of compounding," emphasizes the enormous importance of 

 judicious mixing. It is not enough to use good raw rubber; it 

 is also necessary to select the most suitable compounding in- 

 gredients which will yield a mixing best satisfying the require- 

 ments as to various properties at the required price. Chemical 

 work actively controls the quality of the raw materials used 

 and cures faults by altering existing mixings. 



In connection with mixing the questions of waste and reclaimed 

 rubber as well as of rubber substitutes are appropriately dealt 

 with, followed by the consideration of inorganic compounding 

 materials in their various forms. In this connection special 

 reference is made to "Crude Rubber and Compounding In- 

 gredients," by H. C. Pearson. 



In the final chapter is treated vulcanization, to which funda- 

 mentally important invention is due the great development of the 

 use of rubber. 



Dealing with the various processes for the production of 

 synthetic rubber !Mr. Potts remarks that while these processes 

 are very numerous, an effective one will have to produce isoprene 

 very cheaply, it being doubtful whether many of them are 

 capable of doing so for large quantities. 



Such are a few of the salient points of Mr. Potts' valuable 

 work, indicating close study and diligent investigation of the 

 chemistry of the rubber industry, the contents of the book fully 

 justifying its title. 



An "author's index" supplements the regular "subject index" 

 and enhances the value of the work for purposes of reference. 



THE BRITISH WEST INDIES, THEIR HISTORY, RESOURCES AND 

 Progress. By Algernon E. .Aspinall, author of "The Pocket Guide to 

 the West Indies." Little, Brown & Co., Boston, Mass. 1912. [8vo. 

 Pp. 435. Board covers.] 



People interested in the West Indies will remember Mr. As- 

 pinall's hand book of those islands, published a few years ago, 

 which contained a great deal of useful information in small space. 

 His new book is much more pretentious, and much more complete ; 

 it gives all the essential information regarding the history, climatic 

 conditions, physical aspects, and potentialities of the British 

 possessions in and around the Caribbean Sea. These possessions 

 have not had the attention they should have received from the 

 English public, in view of their importance and possibilities; but 



