104 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[January i, 1908. 



THE EDITOR'S BOOK TABLE. 



THE ANDES AND THE AMAZON. LIFE AND TRAVEL IN PERU. 

 By C. Reginald Enock, F. r. g. s. London: T. Fisher Unwin. New 

 York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1907. [Cloth. Large 8vo. Pp. 16 + 

 379 + plates and map. Price $5 net.] 



THE capable observer who is the author of this volume — the 

 result of much study at first hand — discerns signs of a 

 new era in the development of Peru, a country already becoming 

 of great commercial interest to the outside world, which is likely 

 to have a deep impress upon its people. Peru, he observes, is 

 endowed with everything in the mineral and vegetable world 

 which could make the inhabitants prosperous — the products of 

 the tropical, semi-tropical, and temperate zones; it is a land of 

 practically undeveloped resources which are becoming increas- 

 ingly tempting to foreign investors. It is predicted that the 

 completion of the Panama canal will give a great impetus to 

 development of this character. The country likewise possesses 

 a long established civilization which needs only to be brought 

 into closer touch with that of other countries to remove Peru 

 speedily from its isolation of the past and inspire it with ideas 

 of modern progress. The Indians, who form a great part of 

 the population, are not to be referred to as civilized, of course, 

 but they are docile and peaceable, and capable of being made 

 to share in the work which is to develop a new Peru. 



Commerce, says our author, is the stimulus that is disseminat- 

 ing knowledge of previously little known regions of Peru, par- 

 ticularly those east of the Andes, and commerce there means 

 the trade in india-rubber. "This is the golden fleece of the 

 modern Argonauts upon these savage rivers ; this is the prize 

 for which men sell their souls and destroy the souls and bodies 

 of their fellow creatures as they did in days gone by for gold ; 

 for, written largely on the history — and it is only a history of 

 to-day — of this modest and useful product, is the iniquity of 

 business. Cruelty, cheating, oppression, slavery, and even 

 murder have characterized it, from the Congo to the Amazon. 

 Evil is being done in order, we trust, that good may come of it — 

 ever the Jesuitical characteristic with which nature seems to 

 work through man and commerce." At least two commercially 

 valuable species of Hevea abound in the Peruvian montaiia, and 

 the Castilloa, which produces the "caucho" of the trade. The 

 output of Peruvian rubber is increasing rapidly of late, and is 

 now shipped direct to New York and to Europe by ocean-going 

 steamers, which ascend the Amazon to Iquitos. 



This book embraces a fine map of Peru, which we notice in- 

 cludes the region of the Putumayo and Caqueta rivers, rich in 

 rubber, and referred to recently in this journal as the subject 

 of arbitration between Peru and Colombia. 



DISTRIBUTION OF THE PROTEIN IN PARA RUBBER. By D. 



Spence, ph.d. Liverpool: Institute of Commercial Research. 1907. 



(Paper. 8vo. Pp. 16. Price, 6 pence.] 

 METHODS OF ANALYSIS OF R.\W RUBBER. By D. Spence, ph.d. 



Liverpool: Institute of Commercial Research. 1907. [Paper. 8vo. Pp. 



16. Price, 6 pence.] 



These papers are No. 10 and No. 13, respectively, of reprints 



from the Quarterly Journal of the institute named above, which 



is an important branch of Liverpool University. 



COTTON MOVEMENT AND FLUCTUATION. 1902-07. THIRTY- 

 fourth annua] edition. New York: Latham, Alexander & Co. [1907.] 

 [Cloth. 8vo. Pp. 189.] 



This is a yearly production of an important New York firm 

 of cotton commission merchants, whose name appears on the 

 title page, and is probably the most comprehensive and valuable 

 compendium of cotton facts published. It relates to stocks, con- 

 sumption and prices, in America and Europe. 



HENLEY'S TWENTIETH CENTURY BOOK OF RECIPES, FOR- 

 mulas and Processes. Edited b^ Gardner D. Hiscox, M. E. New York: 

 The Norman W. Henley Publishing Co. 1907. [Ooth. 8vo. Pp. 787. 

 Piicc $3.] 



Here are collected 10,000 "scientific, chemical, technical, and 

 household" recipes, etc., intended for popular rather than for fac- 

 tory use, and relating to practically every substance or material in 

 modern economic use. Several pages are devoted to rubber 

 cements, waterproofing processes, and so on, containing informa- 



tion which doubtless may be turned to practical use, though of 

 course not presented with a view to guidance in factory practice. 



IN CURRENT PERIODICALS. 



KuRZE Ubersicht xiber alle bisher auf Ficus elastica beobachteten Pilze, 

 nebst Bemerkungen ijber die parasitisch auftretenden Arten. By Dr. _ S. H. 

 Koorders. [Review of blights which attack the Ficu^ rubber species.] — 

 Notizblati des Koniglichen botanischen gartens und museums zu Berlin, 

 IV-40 (Oct. 10, '07). Pp. 297-310. 



Rubber Insulation for Conductors. By Fred J. Hall. — The Electrical 

 World, New York. L-2i, 22 (Nov. 23, 30, "07). Pp. 1009-1010; 1053-1056. 



Le Polyniorphisme des Mascarenhasia de I'Ambongo et du Boina. By 

 MM. Jumelle, Perrier — L' Agriculture Pratique des Pays Chauds, Paris. 

 VII-55 (Oct., '07). Pp. 283-296. 



Une Noiivelle Essence Forestiere du Tonkin Productrice de Caoutchouc. 

 By Dr. Ph. Eberhardt. — Bulletin Economique, Hanoi. X-63 (July, '07). 

 Pp. 576-585- 



BETTER RUBBERS FOR LESS MONEY. 



A PRICE list of rubber footwear issued by an important 

 firm 30 years ago has come to the notice of Boston Boot 

 and Shoe Recorder, which has instituted a comparison of its 

 figures with the standard lists now in force. The result of the 

 comparison is thus summarized by the Recorder: "The list gives 

 65 items, and of these the present net prices show an increase 

 in only nine items, while there is a decrease in 25. The others 

 either show no change or no corresponding styles are to be 

 found in present lists. It wil be noticled that the increases are 

 mostly in the items of boys' and youths' boots. Overs and 

 sandals show little change, and the principal reductions are in 

 boots, arctics and heavy overs." But the question of prices is 

 not all. As the Recorder says; "A comparison of quality would 

 show a remarkable improvement for the present styles in almost 

 every detail. The compounds of the rubber are more reliable, 

 the work is better put together and stylish effects are given in 

 fitting that would be considered impossible thirty years ago. 

 Then, too, the list of 65 items was considered ample description 

 of the styles offered. Now a similar abbreviated list not count- 

 ing specialties, would run considerably over 200 items." 



A FRENCH RUBBER DIRECTORY. 



OUR excellent contemporary, Le Caoutchouc et la Gutta- 

 Perch-a, the organ of the rubber trade in France, has 

 brought out a "Universal Directory of the India-Rubber, Gutta- 

 percha, and Allied Industries," evidently with a view to making 

 it an annual publication, the first issue being dated 1908. It 

 fills nearly 500 pages, exclusive of advertisements, and the index 

 gives 177 headings under which firms and their addresses are 

 classified, though this embraces many duplications — as "tires" 

 and "pneumatics" for the same list. But all the headings do 

 not relate directly to rubber. Asbestos is included and varions 

 fabrics and ingredients used in the rubber manufacture, 

 machinery, and so on. The first classification in the book is 

 laboratory appliances and the last waterproof garments, between 

 these appearing all the various branches of rubber goods produc- 

 tion. Naturally the lists are fullest for France, but manufac- 

 turers and dealers are included in the other leading countries 

 of Europe and the United States of America. The editor has 

 not always distinguished properly between makers of goods and 

 dealers, and the book bears evidences of having beent set up by 

 printers unfamiliar with the languages in which some of the 

 firm names are expressed. We doubt not, however, that the 

 trade will accept the invitation to suggest corrections where any 

 may be needed, and that the work will become increasingly valu- 

 able with each new edition. The address of the publishers is 49, 

 rue des Vinaigriers, Paris, and the price of the book 5 francs. 



The Vallambrosa Rubber Co., Limited. — An interim dividend 

 at the rate of 50 per cent, for the half year ended September 

 30, 1907, was to be paid on December 24. The disbursement 

 amounted to £12,650 [=$61,561.23], less income tax. 



