500 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[July 1, 1912. 



The Editor's Book Table. 



RUBBER AXD GUTTA PERCHA. REPORT NO. 82 FROM SCIEN- 

 tific and Technical Department, Imperial Institute, London, 1912. 

 Pait IV — Rubber and Gutta Percha. [Paper. 8vo. 448 pages.] 



THE value of a comparison depending upon its general 

 standard, special interest attaches to the recently published 

 selected reports of the Scientific and Technical Department 

 of the Imperial Institute, edited by the director, Mr. Wyndham 

 R. Dunstan. Based on the principle that rubbers of all descrip- 

 tions have practicallj' the same components in varying propor- 

 tions, a series of analyses defines the composition of a number 

 of samples analyzed by Mr. Harold Brown, Dr. S. S. Pickles, 

 and other members of the stail. 



Uniformity of result has been insured by the form of the 

 analyses, which show the composition under two heads, applied 

 to "Rubber as received," and "Dry rubber." The ehmination of 

 moisture in the latter case naturally increases the proportion of 

 caoutchouc, while also slightly altering that of the other con- 

 stituents. The general form of analysis may be illustrated by the 

 following example : 



( CEARA RUBBER FROM KIBOS DISTRICT, EAST AFRICA 

 PROTECTORATE (p. 291). 



' Rubber as Composition of 



received dry rubber. 



Per Cent. Per Cent. 



! Moisture 12.4 



Caoutchouc 58.9 67.2 



Resin 10.5 12.0 



Proteid 12.1 13.8 



Insoluble matter 6.1 7.0 



Ash 2.4 2.8 



This form of analysis is applied with varying results to the 

 following rubbers : 



Para rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) 45 analyses. 



Sapium rubber (Sapiiim Jeninaiti) 3 



Ceara rubber {Manihot Glaziovii) 19 



Castillo Rubber {Castilloa elasHca) 18 



Funtumia rubber (Funtumia elastica) 36 



Ficus rubber (4 varieties) 25 



Mascarenhasia rubber (Mascarenhasia elastica) . . 4 " 



Miscellaneous rubbers 13 



Vine rubbers (.\frican, Asiatic and West Indian). 60 " 



Gutta Percha and Balata 25 



Total 248 analyses. 



While scientifically accurate results are defined by the analytical 

 tables, their presentation is so clear that they are equally avail- 

 able to the non-technical reader. 



Regarding each species of rubber, a concise summary of its 

 botanical and geographical features precedes the tables of 

 analytical results, while an appendix deals with the utilization 

 of the seeds of the Para rubber tree. 



Within the compass of this brief notice it is impossible to do 

 more than call attention to the salient features of this valuable 

 ■ and interesting compilation. 



Extending as they do over a period of seven or eight years, 

 these tables have, in the completeness of their form, a value 

 which they would not have had in the fragmentary shape of sepa- 

 rate publication. Mr. Dunstan and his colleagues are to be dis- 

 tinctly congratulated on this result of their labors in the cause 

 of technical research. 



THE CEYLON HANDBOOK AND DIRECTORY AND COMPENDIUM 

 of Useful Information. Compiled, prepared and edited under direc- 

 tion of J. Ferguson, C. M. G., Colombo. A. M. & J. Ferguson, 1912. 

 [Cloth. Pp. Lxxi -1- 1668.] 



Distinctly in advance of its predecessors, the "Ceylon Hand- 

 book and Directory," while a little later than usual in its ap- 

 pearance (chiefly owing to the alteration in the date of the gov- 

 ernment financial year), aiTords increased information in the 

 form of an extra hundred pages of text. While dealing fully 

 with the other branches of the Ceylon planting industry, it gives 

 rubber its appropriate position of prominence. From the sta- 

 tistical table forming a special feature of the work, it is seen 

 that rubber alone represents 161,792 acres, as compared with 349,- 

 135 acres in tea alone. While of more recent development than 

 tea, rubber is thus catching up with the latter; more particularly 

 when it Is considered that further areas are planted in rubber 

 with tea, of 77,093 acres; and in rubber with cacao, of 19,493 

 acres. Thus there is a gross total of 258,378 acres in which 

 rubber is represented, which, after allowance being made for 

 other interplanted crops, is estimated to equal about 215,000 acres 

 in rubber. There is in the work a remarkable abundance of 

 local information, so that any one in any way connected with 

 Ceylon and its various interests will find in it much valuable 

 and distinctly up-to-date information, evidently gathered and 

 compiled by painstaking efforts. Messrs. Maclaren & Sons, Ltd., 

 37-38 Shoe Lane, London, are in a position to supply copies 

 of the Handbook. 



RUBBER PRODUCING COMPANIES (CAPITALIZED IN STERLING). 

 Compiled by Gow, Wilson & Stanton, London. Published by "The 

 Financial Times," London, 1912. [8vo. 608 pages. Cloth. Price, 

 three shillings.] 



More or less differing in arrangement from other works of its 

 class, this volume shows in separate sections, 319 companies 

 situated in the Malay States, Java, etc. ; 121 companies in India, 

 Ceylon, etc., 79 companies in other parts of the world, and 29 

 rubber financial and trust companies. This arrangement facili- 

 tates reference in a general sense to broad divisions of rubber 

 cultivation, while the details of acreage, production, etc., are 

 latest available at time of publication. That this is the sixth 

 annual edition, bears testimony to the general appreciation of 

 the work. 



One interesting fact is given prominence, bearing upon the 

 cultivation of plantation rubber; the production of which in 



1910 was less than one-tenth of the world's supply, but during 



1911 reached nearly a sixth. It is estimated that during the 

 present year the supply may exceed one-fourth of the world's 

 total. While rubber receipts at Para have been almost station- 

 ary since 1906. The annual quantity of plantation rubber auc- 

 tioned in London has increased during that time from 348J4 

 tons to 9,699 tons. 



The work is well printed in bold type and will prove of gen- 

 eral interest to the rubber trade. 



EUROPEAN BALLOON AND AEROPLANE FABRICS. 



E. J. Willis & Co., New York, had an interesting display, at 

 the recent Aeronautical Exhibition, of the balloon and aeroplane 

 fabrics made by Metzeler & Co., Munich, Germany. This is 

 one of the oldest companies making fabrics of this character 

 in existence. It was doing quite a little in this sort of work 

 20 years ago, before aviation in its present advanced estate was 

 dreamed of. Many of the famous dirigible balloons that have 

 been operated so successfully in Europe were made of its fab- 

 rics. The New York representative is the Theo. H. Gary Co. 



