258 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



| February 1, 1915. 



'Methods of Coagulation and Preparation of Plantation Rub- 

 ber" is a paper which cannol fail to iriteresl the rubber man in 

 the market place. It is b) B J. Eaton, Government Agricultural 

 Chemist of tin- Federated Malay Stales. After stating that the 



lint used on at least 99 



per cent of the estates is 



acid, he proceeds ti i 



ei the o il irs i >f thi >se who 



ise acetic acid as a "< hem 



ical" by informing them that 

 it is acetic acid in the 

 of the Brazilian native gatherer 

 : produces the admirable 

 results in coagulation to which 

 the critics have been pointing. 

 i I this acid - are must 



i i vised , like - 'da in the 



lit, there must he neither 

 1. 1" little nor too much. [*00 

 ntrated a solutii m forms 

 clots, t<"' dilute will not work 

 at all. It is possible to use sul- 

 phuric acid, but its less cost is 

 not held to warrant the risk its 

 use involves. The latex is 



ulated III i i 50 gallons at a time, and after four hours is 

 removed from the pans. '1'he coagulum is then passed between 

 rollers to expel the greater part of the moisture, placed in racks 

 to drain ami the sheets are removed to the drying room the 

 same evening 

 1 In smudge is 

 usually in 

 cocoanut husks 

 with tin additii 'ii 

 of indifferent 

 Wi ods and ci "I- 

 tinues 10 to 14 

 days, or slightly 

 1' i.'jer. 



The subject of 

 smoking and its 

 ale ci '11- 

 sidered in the 

 foregoing paper, 

 and also in one 

 by G. Stafford 

 Whitby. Prob- 

 ablj there are 

 very few whi i do 

 not believe that 

 the dark color 

 of rubber is due 

 to the particles 

 of carbon from 

 the smoke. That 

 this is not true 

 may be seen at 

 once in the fact Ti;t linrnm. Boi \xtc u. 



that the rubber 



when it leaves the Amazonian lire is still nearly wdiite and thtit 

 it darkens afterward It is now practically certain that the 

 darkening is caused b\ an "\idizing enzyme present in the latex 

 and its action on certain oxidizable substances naturally present 

 in the latex, but which may be added to by the smoke. The, ad- 

 dition of sodium bisulphite to the latex neutralizes this enzyme, 

 with' the result of a very pale rubber Mr Whitby thinks that 

 smoked rubber is- undoubtedly preferable to unsnv.ked and at- 

 tributes it in parr' at RSsI to thV warmth' of th, h..ny smoke. 

 Some of Mr. Whitby's remarks might be summarized by saying 



View' of Old Batavia. 



that rubber is rubber. He says that color is no indication of 

 quality; that there is little or no relation between the tensile 

 properties of raw rubber and the same rubber in a vulcanized 

 state; that the defects of appearance arising from various causes 



and known as oversmoking 

 have nothing to do with qual- 

 ity, ami that the same is true 

 of the appearance of small bub- 

 bles in the sheet. 



"Labor Conditions in Ma- 

 laya." by Patrick lladon, will 

 give comfort to many uneasy 

 consciences disturbed by the 

 though of the low wages paid 

 to the plantation laborers. Mr. 

 lladon states that the "feed- 

 ing, clothing and housing of 

 the coolies 1-. in many in- 

 stances, far better than that of 

 i he purest classes in Europe".; 

 that they are beginning to in- 

 vest in gramaphones and bi- 

 cycles, and that the conditions 

 surrounding them are "extraor- 

 dinarily happy ones compared 

 the countries from which they are 



with those existing 

 imported." 



Space forbids that we should notice the other interesting 

 papers before us, but all are of high standard. 



OTHER 



AWARDS AT 



BATAVIA 



EXHIBITION. 



In recognition 

 of his compre- 

 hensive exhibit 

 of samples of 

 wild rubber and 

 rubber substi- 

 tutes, a diploma 

 of honor was 

 awarded to 

 Henry C. Pear- 

 son, editor of 

 this publication. 



\ - already 

 recorded, The 

 1 x hi a Rubber 

 World cup was 

 given by the jury 

 to the Belgian 

 Colonial Minis- 

 try for the best 

 exhibit of wild 

 rubber. 



For rubber 



Gardens, Buitenzorg, Java. 



washing, creping 

 and sheeting ma- 

 chinery, the firm 

 of David Bridge 

 & Co., Limited. Castleton. Manchester. L'.ngland. received the 

 highest award, a diploma of honor. Lor a complete experimental 



vulcanizing installation for testing stations the same company 



, ■ -i i 



received a similar award. 



A diploma was awarded to the firm of ( ,id" Pedj .. for the ex- 

 cellent collection of rubber samples, prepared by Brazilian method. 



I he work of art donated by Mis Lxcellcncy. the doernor- 

 '..nral of the Xnhirland Indies, 5 as ' ,,r, -ented to the Fast 

 Surffatrr. ' ■ vio,, ,,f Rubber Planters, for it;' & lnhits ' of 

 dwelling co-structed onapproM*,! hvgienic princip.e9. " 13tli " '"' : 



