THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



811 



wood beneath it by |)n)Innging tlic lite uf the oil with which it 

 was mixed. 



OAKBON BLACK RETABD8 OXIDATION. 



The process of the drying of linseed oil and other drying oils 

 is due to oxidation and is accompanied by an increase in weight. 

 This oxidation process is more retarded by carbon black than 

 by any other known pigment. Next to it comes lampblack, but 

 carbon black retards the drying of paint even more than lamp- 

 black by retarding the oxidation of the oil. It seems to have a 

 similar effect on retarding the oxidation and consequent deteriora- 

 tion of rubber. 



INCBEASES TENSILE STBENGTK OF BUBBER. 



Samples of rubber compounded with carbon black have shown 

 a tensile strength of 3,700 pounds per square inch. 



COMPOSITION OF CARBON BLACK. 



Carbon black is not carbon, and all analyses showing over 99 

 per cent of carbon in carbon black are erroneous and misleading. 

 Probably all such analyses were based on the mere combustion 

 of the carbon black and the assumption that everything that 

 burned away was carbon. The lowest percentage of carbon in 

 any competent carbon black analysis that I have ever seen was 

 obtained in the case of the famous Peerless Black and this 

 showed 80 per cent on the commercial substance and 85 per cent 

 when it was dried at a temperature of 110 degrees C. 



Xo one has yet shown what connection, if any, there is between 

 the commercial qualities of a carbon black and its percentage of 

 carbon ; this is a very interesting field for research, well worthy 

 of attention. 



Carbon black is an amorphous mixture of hydrocarbons and 

 other organic compounds, some of which contain o.xygen, none 

 of which have ever been isolated and of which the number is 

 probably very great. 



One important and striking fact with regard to the making of 

 carbon black is that only a small portion of the weight of natural 

 gas is olitainabic as carbon black. It is true that by calcining 

 gas one may obtain more soot, containing as a rule adamantine 

 particles and amounting to 6 or 7 per cent of the weight of the 

 gas and possibly in some instances to more than this, but the 

 material thus obtained has never been made at a competitive 

 price, and is unsalable at any price, owing to its poor color, defi- 

 ciency of coloring power and usually the presence of grit. Never- 

 theless, I do not by any means maintain that this method may 

 not ultimately become of great commercial importance. Hither- 

 to, it has been conducted only on a small scale and at a prohibi- 

 tory expense by reason of the small yield in proportion to the 

 value of the apparatus employed and the rapid destruction of the 

 apparatus by the methods of manufacture or the great expense 

 of the apparatus relative to the yield. 



PERCENTAGE OF RECOVERY FROM NATtHlAL GAS. 



Thirty-three years ago the yield was believed to be from one 

 to three pounds per thousand cubic feet, which would be less than 

 1/30 of the carbon content of the gas. At the present time in 

 West Virginia from 1/20 to 1/30 of the carbon is recovered in 

 the shape of carbon black under proper working conditions. The 

 Louisiana gas is poor in quality and yields less than 1/30. 



INFLITENCES INCREASING COST OF CARBON BLACK. 



Carbon black makers have been harassed by legislation. In 

 Louisiana such attempts have ceased after a period of activity. 



In Wyoming a law has been passed forbidding the erection of 

 carbon black factories within a certain distance from cities of a 

 certain population, a regrettable and foolish law, which probably 

 would not stand the decision of the Supreme Court of the United 

 States ; but, at any rate, it is a distinct deterrent to the manu- 

 facture of carbon black. In West Virginia many attempts have 

 been made to pass adverse legislation, and a law has recently 

 been passed taxing the transportation of natural gas, but it is 

 not in force pending the derision of the Federal courts of last 

 resort. 



.\nother cause that has operated to increase the cost of carbon 

 black is the increasing value of natural gas. For instance, at 

 Clarksburg, West Virginia, six years ago, gas was sold to the 

 glass makers at 4 cents a thousand. They are now paying 27 

 cents a thousand, and in Grafton, West Virginia, they are 

 paying 33 cents a thousand. 



CHEMICAL PATENTS. 

 THE UNITED STATES. 



Drocess of Preventing the Inner W.mxs of Rubber Hose 

 from sticking during manufacture, which consists in 

 simultaneously applying to the inner and outer walls of an 

 uncured inner tube a mixture of water and a powdered 

 agent capable of being deposited upon the walls of the tube 

 and preventing adhesion of the walls. (Frank C. Moore, 

 Canton, Ohio. United States patent No. 1,344.143.) 



Printing-Roller Composition. A resilient ink-distributing 

 roller formed of a vulcanized composition comprising a mixture 

 of previously vulcanized and previously unvulcanized rubbers in 

 nearly equal proportions by weight and together constituting the 

 greater part of the composition. (Abraham L. Freedlander, 

 Akron, Ohio, assignor to The B. F. Goodrich Company, New 

 York City, United States patent No. 1,344,631.) 



Method of Tre.-\ting F.-^bric. This consists in first impregnat- 

 ing the fabric with an emulsified lubricating material and subse- 

 quently applying a vulcanizable plastic. (Erwin E. A. G. Meyer, 

 assignor to Morgan & Wright— both of Detroit, Michigan. United 

 States patent No. 1,344,645.) 



Inking Roller for Printing Presses. The ingredients include, 

 approximately, in weight, alumifium flake, two pounds ; lime, one- 

 half pound; sulphur, three and one-half pounds; magnesia, four 

 pounds; rubber, 40 pounds, and a softening agent. (Lee La Tour 

 and .'Mton F. Munnell, assignors of one-third to Warren Small, 

 all of Omaha, Nebraska. United States patent No. 1,345,200.) 

 THE DOMINION OF CANADA. 



Producing Rubber Compositions .\nd Vulcanizing Products. 

 The process of forming a rubber compound which consists in add- 

 ing to rubber a wet precipitate of barium sulphate, which precipi- 

 tate has been formed in the presence of a colloidal gel, mixing 

 the resultant precipitate with the rubber, drying the mix, and 

 heating the mix with a vulcanizing agent to effect vulcanization. 



The homogeneous vulcanized product formed by adding to rub- 

 lier animal glue formed into a gel by water, mixing the gel with 

 the rubber, driving off the water, and heating the resultant dry 

 mix with a vulcanizing agent to effect vulcanization. (The Good- 

 year Tire & Rubber Co., assignee of Robert Clifford Hartong, 

 both of Akron, Ohio, U. S. A. Canadian patent No. 201,278.) 



Pl.\stic Material. A new substitute for horn, hard rubber, 

 celluloid, etc., consisting essentially of albuminoids treated with 

 formaldehyde and of the fine cell membranes of the emptied yeast 

 cells. (Earnest Krause, Steglitz, and Hans Blucher, Leipzig, both 

 in Germany. Canadian patent No. 201.420.) 

 THE UNITED KINGDOM. 



.Artificial Rubber Tire Filling, .\ typical composition for 

 tlie purpose indicated consists of five parts of mineral oil, such as 

 "Valvoline," to one part protochloride of sulphur. V. Villa, 34 

 rue Bayard, Toulouse, France. British patent No. 141,755.) 



Vulcanizing India Rubber. In the vulcanization of rubber 

 compounds by hot air, litharge or its derivatives is replaced by 

 an organic or inorganic reducing agent to obtain a light-colored 

 product. Suitable agents are hydro-quinone, pyragallol, tannins, 

 l)araniidophenol, glycine, trioxymethylene, and other derivatives 

 of formaldehyde, hydrosulphites, neutral sulphites. In general, 

 the amount of reducing agent should not exceed ten per cent of 

 the rubber. (A. Heilbronner, 74 Boulevard Malesherbes, Paris, 

 France. British patent No. 142,083.) 



Coating Materials for Fabrics. The material known as 

 Turkish birdlime produced from the fruits of cordia myxa and 



