400 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[April 1, 1917. 



The Editor's Book Table. 



YEAR BOOK OF THE CEYl.OX AClKICri.TURAL SOCIETY, 1<)17. 

 191S. Compiled by C. Drieberg. B.A., IMI.A.S.. Colombo, Ceylon. 

 ISmall 16 mo., cloth, 144 pages. J 



SECRETARY DRIEBERG has collected in tlii.s small volume 

 a real compendium of agricultural and horticultural informa- 

 tion of this important tropical island. It seems as if no prac- 

 tical hint which could be helpful to the vegetable or fruit planter 

 is omitted. There arc crop notes on cotton, tobacco, kapok, cas- 

 tor bean and dhall ; veterinary notes, pests and diseases, and many 

 rules, useful hints, etc., but practically no mention of rubber in 

 any form. The list of officers and members is given ; there is a 

 clear, readable map, which shows in colors the annual rainfall. 

 Not the least interesting feature of the book is the advertising 

 department, consisting of a number of pages following the te.Kt. 



used upon tl'.e properties of vulcanized rubber; observations 

 on cold vulcanizing; the insolubles in rubber; the absorption 

 of moisture by raw rubber in various atmospheres; paraffin 

 as a lillcr lor rubber; resin and impurities in balata and gutta 

 pcrcba. 



MEDEDEELIXGEX VAX DEN RYKSVOOKI.ICHTIXGSDIEXST TEX 

 behoeve van den Rubberhandel in de Rubbernijverheid te Delft. 

 Second series, 1916. .Afdeeling Handel, Lange Houtstraat 36, 'sGrav- 

 enhage. [Paper cover, 544 pages. Manv illustrations, diagrams and 

 statistics. Price 2.50 florins.] 



This publication of the Department of Commerce of the 

 Netherlands Government contains numerous interesting reports 

 of experiments and investigations in various departments 

 of rubber chemistry and manufacture. .\ very elaborate 

 introduction, besides expressing general ideas on inquiries 

 pertaining" to rubber, classifies the contents of the widely 

 differing articles. This classification has six main divi- 

 sions: (1) Inquiries in latex and judgment of crude rub- 

 ber b}' its appearance; (2) chemical examinations of crude 

 rubber; (3) the viscosity of crude rubber solutions; (4) de- 

 polymerization and oxidation of crude rubber; (5) experi- 

 ments in vulcanization and examination of the vulcanized 

 product as a basis for the inspection of crude rubber; (6) in- 

 quiries into the process of vulcanization. 



-An interesting article under the first heading is that by 

 Professor G. V. Iterson, Jr., in which is explained and de- 

 scribed an apparatus for determining the rubber content of 

 latex. .A report of the results of a scientific test of empiric 

 judgment of crude rubber lays stress on the advantages and 

 improvements that would arise from a general use of scien- 

 tific methods in examination. 



Attention must also be called to a review of the chief meth- 

 ods employed by the Voorlichtingsdicnst, a series of mechano- 

 technical investigations and an essay on the great importance 

 of chemical investigation for the future of plantation rubber. 

 Among the papers concerning rubber inspection is one de- 

 scribing simplified methods for inspecting crude rubber, and 

 another on the desirability of international inspection of 

 crude rubber. The latter cites several methods as employed 

 by foreign investigators and deplores the fact that fixing an 

 international standard of inspection i)resents so many diffi- 

 culties, owing to the lack of agreement of authorities on 

 several important scientific points. 



A report of the analysis of several products from lactiferous 

 trees of Surinam and a comparison of gutta percha mechanically 

 extracted from leaves and from stems of trees on the government 

 gutta percha plantation of Tjipetir ought to interest many. 



Valuable are the great number of clearly described experi- 

 ments which concern problems, such as the effect of treat- 

 ment with the washing mill; determination of resin content 

 and its influence upon vulcanization; miscellaneous physical 

 tests of vulcanized rubber ; viscosity of rubber solutions ; un- 

 saponifiable resins ; the influence of solvents on viscosity and 

 porosity; improvement of rubber by heating in carbonic acid 

 atmosphere; maximum of sulphur with which rubber unites; 

 influence of time and temperature and the quantity of sulphur 



MANUFACTURIXG COSTS AND ACCOUXTS. BY A. HAMILTON 

 Church. McGraw-IIill Book Co.. Inc., New Y''ork City. [8vo, 447 

 pages, illustrated. Price, $5.] 



The importance of an accurate system of cost accounting is 

 one \'Iii-h is appreciated by every up-to-date industrial and com- 

 mercial establishment. The author of this work -has written a 

 very exhaustive treatise as to the proper methods of keeping 

 cost accounts in so simple a manner as to be readily under- 

 stood. A number of methods are explained fully and their 

 merits compared. There are chapters devoted to sales and sell- 

 ing expenses and to summarizing results. A large number of 

 forms are shown, these being copies of cards, loose leaves, etc., 

 in actual use in manufacturing establishments. At the end of 

 the work is a department devoted to factory reports and re- 

 turns, those of the foreman, the superintendent, and the exec- 

 utives. These reports are analyzed in order to show the effi- 

 ciency of the workmen, the expenses of idle machinery, and the 

 general department efficiency. With these reports brought. into 

 practical use the proprietors or management can tell the progress 

 of the business and its exact standing at the time these reports 

 are made. 



While tins latter department is. devoted practically to machine 

 shops, there is much in it which is adaptable to any factory 

 using machinery, and the book contains a greater amount of 

 theoretical and practical matter regarding costs, and cost ac- 

 coiuiting than one would imagine could be packed in a single 



PHYSICAF- AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF GASOLENES SOLD 

 Throughout the United States During the Calendar Year 1915. By 

 W. F. Rittman, W. .\. lacobs and K. W. Dean. Government Printing 

 Office, Washington, D. (.'. [45 pages. Price, 10 cents.] 

 This is the report of the investigation of government experts. 

 It is mainly devoted to the study of values for combustion en- 

 gines. Care has been taken to submit facts impartially, leaving 

 to the reader the determination as to the superiority or inferiority 

 of one kind over another for his individual purpose. Many tests 

 were made — specific gravity, evaporation losses, calorific value, 

 sulphur determinations, engine tests and content of unsaturated 

 carbons. Eastern, Mid-Continent and California gasolenes were 

 tested, as were also cracked gasolene, blended casinghead gaso- 

 lene, and "straight" refinery product. The results are tabulated, 

 and suiTiiTiarized, and luake valuable reading. A fact that de- 

 serves mention is the undesirability of attempting to use motor 

 gasolene as a solvent. This is shown by the high boiling points 

 of some of the constituents in manv gasolenes tested. 



n.\XDBOOK OF CHEMISTRY AXD PHYSICS. FIFTH EDITION. 

 Chemical Rubber Co., Cleveland, Ohio. [Cloth, 414 pages, 4 by dYi 

 inches. Price, $.?. ] 



This handbook is already known to many chemists in the 

 United States, it being a favorite ready reference book of 

 chemical and physical data. The fifth edition is a revision of 

 the previous one, under the direction of Professors Charles B. 

 Hodgman and M. F. Coolbaugh of the Departiuent of Chemis- 

 try at Case School of Applied Science. Although small enough 

 to fit easily in the pocket, it is packed full of chemical and 

 physical facts and tables, so arranged as to be readily found. 

 The present edition is about 60 pages larger than the previous 

 one. Among the new features added is a new and more com- 



