396 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[August i, 1904. 



WHAT "SERNAMBY" MEANS. 



IN writing of the preparation of Pard rubber, the United 

 States consul at Para, Colonel Louis H. Ayme, says: 

 " The sernamby is the self coagulated rubber which remains 

 in the cups into which the latex exudes. When the milk is 

 collected the tapper pours out the liquid contents into a large 

 receptacle that he carries for that purpose. Then he sweeps 

 out the interior of the cup with his forefinger to get what, 

 though liquid, remains in the cup. There is still a film of 

 partly coagulated milk in the cup. This is allowed to remain 

 for several days. There result a number of curious little cakes 

 of self coagulated latex that often resemble mussels and hence 

 the name ' sernamby,' which in an Indian tongue means ' mus- 

 sel.' These little cakes are pressed together and adhere to 

 each other. Sometimes a ball is formed ; more often it is 

 pressed in a box. To the cakes are added strips and films 

 from the trees. Careful collectors do not, however, strip the 

 film from the incision made into the bark and which always 

 extends to the wood — usually indeed into the wood— as this 

 film protects the tree from a borer that would otherwise lay 

 its eggs in the cuts." 



RUBBER DAM FOR REDUCING FLESH. 



THERE is a new method of flesh reducing which is intend- 

 ed only for people addicted to athletics. One of its feat- 

 ures is the fact that one may follow it without attracting atten- 

 tion from one's friends. 



The graceful women one sees at Newport riding along Ocean 

 avenue, playing tennis at the Casino, or on the links at the golf 

 club may all the time be taking this method of getting thin, al- 

 though there is no trace of it in their appearance. Men who ride 

 cross-country or play polo may be simultaneously following this 

 method of flesh reduction, although nobody would suspect it. 



It is a fact that some of the women of New York smart so- 

 ciety who are noted for their good looks and athletic figures, 

 are most devoted to this method of keeping their weight down. 

 Among men its advocates are those conspicuous for their 

 athletic figures and their strength. 



This new method of melting away the too solid pounds is 

 described as the " rubber dam " system. A rubber dam is the 

 bit of rubber fitted by dentists about a tooth on which they are 

 working, to keep away saliva and other moisture. The rubber 

 from which such dams are made comes in bolts about two-thirds 

 of a yard wide. It is a hard rubber cloth and is sold by the yard 

 in one or two drug stores. 



Persons who want to take off flesh buy four or five yards of 

 this material, wrap it tightly about the body, and to keep it in 

 place put on a tight fitting suit of silk or woolen underwear, 

 preferably of the kind called the combination. This is only the 

 first stage of the rubber dam reduction cure. The hardest part 

 is still to come. Once the rubber is in place there must come 

 many swift sets of tennis, hard horseback riding, tether ball 

 playing, or some equally exacting sport. The use of the rubber 

 wrappings assists the action of the skin, makes the perspiration 

 much freer, and has been known to take ofl as much as five or 

 six pounds in one day. 



Women usually wrap the rubber about the body from the 

 chest down to the knees. Many women are most interested in 

 getting rid of their hips, as they are likely to show stoutness 

 first there, and the big hipped woman is not at all in the style 

 nowadays. Such women wrap the rubber dam several times 

 around the hips and waist to devote their energies to that par- 

 ticular part of the body. 



In the same way, men who think they are getting too heavy 

 over the hips or maybe over the abdomen wrap the rubber only 

 about those parts that they are anxious to attack. 



The treatment requires nothing in the way of diet, although 

 it will of course be very much more effective if fattening foods 

 and liquids are avoided. But the rubber dam devotees do not, 

 as a rule, follow any other course in attempting to get thin. 



The treatment is not expensive. The original cost of the 

 rubber will not exceed §4 in any case, and it can be used time 

 and time again. 



There used to be complaints that patients under the treat- 

 ment might take cold, but that happens rarely if after the ex- 

 ercise they go home immediately and take a bath. For persons 

 who ride or play tennis the new treatment is splendidly effect- 

 ive, but it is of no value to those not addicted to athletics. — New 

 York Sun. 



MORE COLORADO RUBBER NEWS. 



OARA, as a rubber center, is threatened with a rival in the 

 -1 city of Buena Vista, Routt county, Colorado — in the 

 mountains, near the northwestern corner of that state — the 

 home of the " rabbit brush " made famous as a rubber producer 

 by so many conflicting discoverers. The Pueblo Chieftain 

 estimates that "this section of the country alone can supply 

 rubber for the world for the next 25 years," though it fails to 

 say where rubber is to come from afterwards. 



The American Crude Rubber Co. promise to erect at Buena 

 Vista a factory for the extraction of rubber from the marvelous 

 shrubs, to be operated by electric power, in connection with 

 which they are to light the city and operate an electric railway, 

 the necessary franchises having been granted by the city. 



Buena Vista is headquarters for a new company, the Colo- 

 rado Rubber and Improvement Co., organized by citizens of 

 Columbia, Indiana, under the laws of Colorado, the incorpora- 

 tion papers having been filed May 23. The company is capi- 

 talized at $50,000, and was expected to begin producing rubber 

 by July 1. 



The press very generally has printed the following despatch, 

 regarding which The India Rubber World has received a 

 number of inquiries : 



City of Mexico, June 6. — Fernand Vivier, a Frenchman and an 

 expert in rubber culture, has discovered a plant which yields abundant 

 rubber. Tests of the plant demonstrate that no chemicals are needed, 

 as it vulcanizes easily. There is already a large demand from New 

 York for the product of the new discovery. 



This report evidently is based upon an interview with Mon- 

 sieur Vivier, in the Mexican Herald of June 1, written by a re- 

 porter not too well informed in regard to rubber. We should 

 judge from the report, however, that the plant referred to is 

 the one already mentioned in these pages by the local name of 

 " guayule." 



Rubber Shoe Production.— The annual report of the 

 United States Rubber Co. stated the production of its fac- 

 tories during the last fiscal year at over 48,000,000 pairs. The 

 Boston News Bureau had already estimated the capacity of 

 these factories at 58,000,000 pairs, according to which it would 

 appear that 83 per cent, of the capacity was employed. The 

 News Bureau also estimated the capacity of the independent 

 rubber shoe factories at 29,000,000 pairs per year, and assuming 

 that S3 per cent, of the capacity was employed, these factories 

 should have made 24.000,000 pairs during the past season, or a 

 total of 72,000,000 pairs for the whole industry. The field is 

 now open for any one else who cares to estimate. 



