70 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[December i, 1907. 



THE EDITOR'S BOOK TABLE. 



BOLIVIA. THE CEXTR.-VL HIGHWAY OF SOUTH AMERICA, 

 a Land of Rich Resources and Varied Interest. [By] Marie Robinson 

 Wright. Philadelphia: Gtorge Barrie & Sons. [1907.] [Qoth. 

 Large 4to. Pp. 450 and map. Price $10.] 



THIS is not the first work on South America from the pen 

 of the lady whose name adorns the title page of the present 

 sumptions volume, and her previous performances had prepared 

 us to form expectations with regard to her "Bolivia" which 

 have not been disappointed. Mrs. Wright has actually traveled 

 in the countries she describes under conditions which have won 

 for her mission the sympathetic interest and cooperation of 

 official and the best social circles, and given her an opportunity 

 to study the circumstances of life of even the primitive in- 

 habitants. 



Throughout this work runs a thread of narrative of personal 

 experience which heightens its interest to the reader. Her per- 

 spective is such as to afford an informing amount of detail, 

 without wearying one who follows her, while on every page 

 is at least one illustration which either tells a story by itself or 

 serves to elucidate the text. We feel that most readers will 

 agree with Mrs. Wright that Bolivia is a land of great interest, 

 and to very many of them it doubtless will prove a veritable 

 new found land. It is not too much to say that this is the best 

 single work on Bolivia in English. 



The authoress visited the rubber districts on the Beni river 



and presents a number of photographic views illustrating the 



rubber gathering industry, some of which are the best pictures 



in this line that we have seen. 



CAOUTCHOUC E GUTTA-PERCHA. PER IL DOTT. LLIGI SET- 

 timj. (Manuali Hoepli.) Milan; Ulrico Hoepli. 1907. [Cloth. 

 i6nio. Pp. xvi 4- 253. Price 3 lire = 60 cents.] 



This is one of a series of practical manuals issued by a lead- 

 ing Italian publisher, written by an official chemist in Rome. 

 The salient points of the history and sources of rubber are 

 covered, though the author has the usual difficulty in handling 

 the barbarous names which the botanists serve up to us. He 

 is more at home in describing the physical and chemical proper- 

 ties and preparation of rubber, and in the basal principles of 

 its manufacture. We cannot entertain his notion that Panama 

 rubber, for instance, is made from Hevea smoked with palm 

 nuts and boughs of rubber trees; nor can we quite agree with 

 him that the centrifugal process of treating latex is a grand 

 success. He describes the manufacture of automobile tires with 

 delightful simplicity. Two sheets are placed upon a cotton 

 fabric treated with rubber paste, and put into a hydraulic press. 

 Those who know the goodness of Italian tires will be slow to 

 believe that. The parts of the book which deal with compound- 

 ing ingredients, substitutes and the like, appear to be based largely 

 upon Mr. Pearson's book, with curious errors in spelling and 

 some other revelations, as when orris root is translated "!e 

 radici di iris." In the paragraphs on oxide of gold, adamanta, 

 and some others, the Italian translator quite missed the meaning. 

 The book also has tables on the world's production and con- 

 sumption of gutta-percha, and on the exports and imports of 

 rubber and gutta and manufactures in the Italian trade, from 

 1890 to date. 



COMMEUCI.XL AND INDUSTRIAL GEOGRAPHY. A TEXT BOOK 

 for schools, colleges, and private reference. By John J. Macfarlane, 

 A. M., librarian of the Philadelphia Commercial Museum, and Edwin 

 llebden. a. m., piincipal Group A, Baltimore public schools. Balti- 

 more: Sadler-Rowe Co. [1907]. [Cloth. 8vo. Pp. xiii + 383 -f xxxvi 

 -f charts. Price, $1.20.] 



Commercial geography treats of the world as one market, with 

 the various nations or sections as producers and consumers. 

 Trade was, is and ever shall be vexed by the selfish few ; but 

 there is less of this every day, because the great majority gen- 

 erally prefer to buy where they can buy cheapest and to sell 

 where they can sell dearest. Commercial geography tries to 

 show where to buy and sell. As might be expected, the book 

 before us is at once too broad and too narrow. The authors 



need hardly have reminded us that earthly life is dependent 

 upon solar heat and light, that the earth is nearly spherical in 

 form, and that air is an actual substance. Since they attempt 

 to cover all commodities, it is but natural that they cannot dwell 

 long on any, and that the values given each should often be dis- 

 proportionate. Still, the perspective is fairly well preserved, the 

 e-xpression is short and clear, and the statistics well handled. 

 About a third of the book is devoted to raw materials. Then 

 follow a few pages on manufactures, and the rest of it is 

 given up to a general description of the political divisions of 

 the world. This part is weak in its concept, since commercal 

 geography should disregard political forces and groupings, ex- 

 cept as disturbing influences. When commercial geography 

 takes account of governments, it becomes political economy. 



THE CONSULAR SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES; ITS His- 

 tory and Activities. By Chester Lloyd Jones. [No. 18 in the Po- 

 litical Economy and Public Law Series. Publication of the University 

 of Pennsylvania.] Philadelphia: The John C. Winston Co. igo6. 

 [Cloth. 8vo. Pp. IX + 126. Price, $1.50.] 



The object of this work is to sketch the history of the con- 

 sular service, and to point out especially the development, in 

 recent times, of its relations to trade. It also aims to indicate 

 the service actually rendered at the present time, the limits of 

 the aid which consuls can lend to commerce, and the defects in 

 the present consular organization of the United States. There 

 is also a chapter on European consular systems. At this time, 

 when serious efforts are being made along so many lines, for 

 improving consular services, and with promising results, par- 

 ticularly with regard to the promotion of trade, the appearance 

 of this book is opportune; it is also informing, and its sugges- 

 tions worth considering — not the least important ones dealing 

 with what the consuls cannot do. 



EL PALO AMARILLO (■•EUPHORBIA ELASTICA") COMO PRODUC- 

 tor de Caucho. Por el Dr. Fernando Altamirano. Primera Memoria. 

 Mexico: Secretaria de Fomento. 1905. [Paper. 8vo. Pp. 26 -f- 6 

 plates.] 



A SCIENTIFIC summary of facts regarding the Mexican "yellow 



tree" considered as a rubber producer. The tree, by the way, 



has been renamed recently by the staff at Kew Euphorbia fulva. 



It was illustrated and described in The Indi.\ Rubber World 



February i, 1906 (page 148). 



HENDRICKS' COMMERCI.'\L REGISTER OF THE UNITED STATES, 

 for Buyers and Sellers. New Y'ork: Samutl E. Hendricks Co., No. 

 74 Lafayette street. [1907.] [Cloth. Large 8vo. Pp. Lxxvi -|- 

 1224. Price, $10.] 



The regular appearance of this reference work for 16 con- 

 secutive years, each edition being larger than its predecessor, is 

 alone a guarantee of merit. The publishers state that the current 

 volume contains upwards of 350,000 business names and ad- 

 dresses, classified under 31,212 headings, and 76 closely printed 

 pages are devoted to an index of these headings, by means of 

 which the manufacturers of or dealers in almost any conceivable 

 article may be referred to easily. On the whole, it appears to 

 us to be a book of real value. It can hardly be expected to be 

 a complete directory of any given line of business, but if it 

 gives even a few good houses under every heading, it proves a 

 serviceable work of reference. Our only criticism is that some 

 obsolete names are included, and the proofreading might have 

 been done better. 



IN CURRENT PERIODICALS. 



Le Caoutchouc eon Nouvellc Caledonie. By M. Etesse. chief of the 

 agricultural .«:ervice. [The native and introduced species: history of ex- 

 ploitation; illustrated.] L' Agriculture des Pays Chauds. Paris. VII-53 

 (.•\u.g. '07). Pp. 102-120. 



Perils of the Crude Rubber Tr.\de. — The Brazilian Review 

 refers to the gathering of rubber in parts of Amazonas as a 

 perilous occupation, and mentions the sending of a detachment 

 of soldiers from Manaos into the interior to deal with Indians 

 who have been killing rubber workers and rifling their houses. 

 At the same time a newspaper from the East reports the capture 

 of a tiger on a rubber plantation in Johore, after he had killed 

 seventeen natives. The tiger measured 12 feet from tip to tip 

 and will be preserved for show purposes. 



