398 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[April 1, 1917. 



aUBBER EYE CITF. 



An eye bath made entirely of rubber 

 is formed with a bulb portion by 

 which the liquid is forced upwards 

 against the eye. The neck, which 

 may be stiffened by thickening or cor- 

 rugating its wall or by means of a rigid 

 collar, is provided with a soft ringed 

 edge. A perforated check-plate may be 

 fitted in the base of the neck. [H. St. C. 

 Mason, Hcndon, Middlesex. England. 1 

 870,) 



1914-1916 RUBBER PRICE ADVANCES SMALL. 



ritish patent No. 102,- 



RUBBEE TUBING FOR WOUND IRRIGATION. 



A new and remarkably successful treatment for infected 

 wounds, which was mentioned in the January, 1917, issue of The 

 India Rubber World, embodies the use of various rubber tubes 

 for continuous irrigation with a special antiseptic solu- 

 tion. The apparatus for this method of treatment, de- 

 signed by Dr. Alexis Carrel, consists of sterilized rubber 

 tubes, the ends of which are perforated with many holes, 

 covered with sponge tissue and introduced into the 

 wound, as many of them as may be needed to reach its 

 every part. The tubes lead up to a glass tube with sev- 

 eral lateral orifices to each of which a rubber tube is at- 

 tached. The solution flows from a glass receptacle 

 through a rubber pipe into the glass tube and thence 

 through the rubber tubes to the wound, its flow being 

 regulated either by a drop-counting apparatus or by 

 clamps upon the tubes. 



When the wound becomes thoroughly 

 sterile it is sewn up, and a favorite sewing 

 of Dr. Carrel's for large, deep wounds closes 

 like a laced shoe ; two broad strips of ad- 

 hesive plaster, each bearing a row of hooks, 

 are stuck to the skin along the edges of the wound and a pair of 

 rubber laces is twisted back and forth and drawn tight, thus obvi- 

 ating the necessity of sewing through the skin. 



AVIATOR'S HOOD. 



The aviator's hood here illustrated is 

 made of rubberized material shaped to 

 fit the head closely, yet comfortably, with 

 a single strap fastening that is easily at- 

 tached. These hoods are exceptionally 

 neat in appearance, and are claimed to 

 be lighter in weight and less mechanical 

 than many others, while preserving all 

 the necessary protective qualities. They 

 are equally suitable for professional au- 

 tomobilists to wear while competing in 

 road races. [Sanders Co., Indianapolis. 

 Indiana.] 



•PNEUMASTIC" TIRE FILLER. 



A new tire filler, consisting almost entirely of rubber, the 

 slight proportion of other ingredients adding to its toughness 

 and long wearing qualities, is now on the market. The sub- 

 stance thus formed is very light and resilient, and it is claimed 

 that "Pneumastic" possesses extreme flexibility, uniformity 

 of power and greater momentum, with entire absence of heat 

 and friction, giving increased mileage from tires without sacri- 

 fice of riding comfort. The claims of the manufacturer are 

 substantiated by a written guarantee for a period of two years, 

 free replacement being made should the filler prove defective 

 in any way during that time. [The Altenburg Tire & Rubber 

 Co., Davenport, Iowa.] 



HP HAT the rubber industry has fared exceptionally well in 

 •^ respect to its most important raw material since the out- 

 break of the European war is gleaned from a report just issued 

 by the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Miscellaneous 

 Series No. 52. Wholesale prices of leading articles in United 

 States markets at frequent intervals from January, 1914, to 

 December, 1916, New York, Boston and Chicago quotations, are 

 tabulated, and indicate that whereas crude rubber (Upriver fine) 

 had increased only 27.6 per cent at the end of the period, leather, 

 hides, wool, manila, lead and zinc had nearly doubled ; iron, steel 

 and sisal hemp had more than doubled; while Bessemer and open- 

 hearth steel had trebled. Cotton had increased 39 per cent in 

 price; jute butts, 36 per cent; raw silk, 26.S to 42.8 per cent, ac- 

 cording to grade ; and mohair 48.6 to 71.4 per cent. The only 

 important raw materials mentioned which had undergone less 

 increase than rubber were tin. 12 per cent; jute, 13.8 per cent; 

 crude petroleum, 14 per cent; and silver (London quotations 0.92S 

 fine) 26.7 per cent. 



THE MARKS RECLAIMING PATENT. 



It may be remembered that in The India Rubber World of 

 January 1, 1916, a full report was published of a decision of the 

 United States Circuit Court of Appeals affirming the decision 

 of the District Court in Buffalo, New York, sustaining the 

 validity of the Marks or ".\lkali" patent for rubber reclaiming. 

 Tlie latest phase of the case is the decision handed down March 

 12, 1917, which affirms the decision of the District Court in 

 Ohio, thus holding that the patent is invalid. It will, therefore, 

 be seen that these two decisions, diametrically opposite, have 

 both been affirmed by higher courts and the questions of the 

 validity of the patent and of infringement are still undetermined. 



RECOVERY OF RUBBER AND FABRIC FROM TIRES. 



In practically all processes for reclaiming rubber from 

 tires the fabric is destroyed. In these days of conservation, how- 

 ever, the recovery of the fabric as well as the rubber is well 

 worth consideration. In the lists of chemical patents printed in 

 the May and November, 1916, issues of The India Rubber 

 VVoRLn, brief mentions were made of a process having the above 

 economy for its 'object, as worked out by C. de Villers, of 

 Neuilly, France. 



In the preparation of rubber cements it has already been pro- 

 posed to employ tetrachlorethane as a rubber solvent. De Villers 

 uses this substance, heated to a boiling point, for the purpose of 

 dissolving the rubber and also a second time, for freeing the 

 rubber from sulphur. 



The tires are placed in a closed receptacle containing tetra- 

 chlorethane, enough of the latter being used to completely cover 

 them. The vessel is heated, directly or by means of steam, to 

 the boiling point, and the vapors produced are passed into a 

 condenser. .A.t first the rubber swells and then dissolves into a 

 liquid, and at the end of an hour the fabric is completely freed 

 of rubber. This mass is next sent to the filter press to separate 

 the fabric from the rubber in solution, and since the supply of 

 tire fabric is so much smaller than the actual demands after 

 further cleansing, this fabric can be utilized to advantage. 



The rubber is then precipitated from the solution by the ad- 

 dition of water. To free this rubber from sulphur it is sub- 

 jected to a first treatment with tetrachlorethane, which is pro- 

 longed until the rubber begins to swell, indicating that the free 

 sulphur is then dissolved. This tetrachlorethane charged with 

 sulphur is allowed to run off and is replaced by a second quan- 

 tity of fresh tetrachlorethane which, after having been brought 

 to boiling point, dissolves the desulphurized rubber. It will be 

 seen that this treatment passes through two phases, tetrachlore- 

 thane only being employed. 



