520 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[August 1, 1912. 



toes, corn, maize, etc — into fusel-oi! by a process ot 

 fermentation discovered In- I'rofcssor Fernljach. Va- 

 rious alcohols, separated from this fusel-oil by dis- 

 tillation, are then converted into isoprene, or one of 

 its homolognes, by the action of chlorine. Dr. Mat- 

 thews then discoveretl that by the use of metallic so- 

 dium, isoprene could be readil}- converted into rubber, 

 ha\-ing exactly the same chemical character as rubber 

 produced from the tree. These English chemists as- 

 sert that it will be possible to produce rubber in this 

 way, in commercial (juantities, at 60 cents a pound, 

 and the}' hope to be able to produce it for about one- 

 third of that amount. 



I There is naturally considerable skepticism in the 

 trade in regard to these announcemcuts — a skepticism 

 attrilnitable to the fact that similar claims have been 

 made from time to time during the last quarter cen- 

 tury — but it must be borne in mind that the English 

 grou]) of chemists who arc l)ehind the present an- 

 nouncement are men of good repute and recognized 

 standing. It is hardly credible that they have deceived 

 themselves, and still less thinkable that they desire tu 

 deceive others. They undoubtedly have made a dis- 

 tinct advance towards the goal of practicable, com- 

 mercial, synthetic rubber. Their claims are further 

 fortified by the work of the German group of chemists 

 who have arrived at practically the same result 

 through their independent researches. To be sure the 

 Englishmen have not yet produced their new rubber in 

 commercial quantities, nor subjected it to the physical 

 tests which must ultimately decide its industrial value; 

 but the German chemists are reported to have applied 

 physical tests to their product with very satisfactory 

 results. 



But no alarm_ need be felt by investors in rubber 

 plantations, for, as is set forth in detail on another 

 page of this issue, five of the leading plantations oC 

 the Far East show in their reports for 1911 that the 

 rubber which they sold at an average price of $1.22 

 per pound, cost to produce less than 39 cents a pound. 

 Synthetic rubber, even if it had now arrived in com- 

 mercial quantities, would have to be produced at con- 

 siderably under 60 cents a pound, seriously to threateiv 

 the plantations. If, as Professor Perkin hopes, com- 

 mercial synthetic rubber can be produced at 24 cents 

 a pound — that would be another story, but the day of 

 24-cent synthetic rubber is probably some distance 

 away. When it arrives, it may find- plantation rubber 

 even lower. It is an interesting contest — science vs. 

 nature, and may the most economical producer win. 



THE "AKRON" DISASTER. 



JUST how far man w ill be successful in his attempted 

 conquest of the air can 'at present only be con- 

 jectured. That aviation will have a constantly in- 

 creasing scientific interest, and that it will play a sig- 

 nificant part on the next occasion ioT military opera- 

 tions, cannot be doubted ; but whether it will ever have 

 an important place in our commercial life is still an 

 unanswered question. 



Alan is equipped by nature to walk the earth, and 

 — where necessary — to swim the seas. These two ele- 

 ments, in their normal conditions, he has brought un- 

 der his control. But the air is a thing of a different 

 color. Man has no natural equipment for its subjuga- 

 tion. It is too unstable and elusive for his grasp ; but 

 the attempt to conquer it will go on — attended with a 

 sad sacrifice of human life. But no sacrifice of human 

 life is in \-ain which is in the cause of man's increas- 

 ing dominion. 



During the last 20 years, since serious attention was 

 first turned to the dirigible balloon, 56 lives have been 

 lost in this field of discovery, but they have been so 

 many contributions to legitimate science. The in- 

 trepid Vaniman and his four courageous comrades, 

 whose lives were snuffed out a thousand feet above 

 the waters of Atlantic City, when the famous dirigible 

 "Akron"' came to grief, in the early morning of the 

 second of July, will take their place among the martyrs 

 to scientific progress. Entirely apart from the human 

 syi-npathy that goes out to the victims of this shocking 

 disaster, great regret must be felt at the untimely taking 

 off of the aeronaut-in-chief; for Vaniman, while perhaps 

 not an aerial scientist of the first class, had proved him- 

 self a man of tremendous determination and undaunted 

 courage, and of great fertility of resource. 



Just how the fatal accident occurred can never, of 

 course, be definitely determined. One theory is that 

 as the hydrogen gas was let out from the escape valves 

 it came in contact with electric sparks from the motor, 

 and thus caused the explosion. Such an explanation is 

 given, with considerable detail, by an expert quoted in 

 our Akron letter in this issue. It is interesting and 

 plausible. Another theory, however, which seems to 

 rest on reasonable grounds, is that the hydrogen expand^id 

 so rapidly under the sudden heat of the early morning 

 sun that it could not be let out through the valves fast 

 enough, and that the strain upon the thin covering of 

 the' balloon became more than it could stand. 



It has been advanced by a certain scientist that rub- 

 berized fabric, when kept for some time in contact with 

 hydrogen gas, as when a balloon is inflated, absorbs 

 some of the hydrogen and thus suffers a loss of purity 

 and strength. This may have been the case with the 

 "Akron," which had been inflated for some months. By 

 reason of this fact, its covering may have been somewhat 

 weakened and thus less able to withstand the great 

 strain o fthe expanding hydrogen. 



