2! '_' 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



i, L915. 



their vapors, though non-inflammable, would prove to be 

 more trj inhaling them than in the case with 



benzol Further information on this point is a mattei ol 

 some technical importance. 



hi the meanwhile, I may mention that at a recent inquesl 

 in London on a workman employed -it the air craft factory, 

 Hendon, tht home office expert said that the man had been 

 working with a very quick-drying varnish consisting partly 

 oi tetrachlor-ethane which had caused disease of the liver. 

 This was the first case of the kin<l reported and it was stated 

 that ilit- management of the factor) would take special pre- 

 cautious in the future. 



With regard to the business .loin in non flam solvent in 

 the last tew years a prominent use has been in the making 

 up ot repair outfits lor cyclists, the rubber works buying the 

 solvent from the rubber chemical dealers under the name of 

 non-flam solvent and not under its specific chemical name. 

 In most cases the solvent was carbon tetrachloride, the price 



being about double that of benzol, 



THE PATENT LIST 



The French patent No. 468}493 of \Y. E. Muntz is concerned 

 with the idea of protecting the fabric of rubber-coated ma- 

 terials from the action of sulphurous and sulphuric acids pro- 

 duced by oxidation of the sulphur in the rubber. This is to 

 be done by treating the fabric previously with a 3 per cent 

 solution of barium hydrate under reduced pressure, allowing 

 it to drain and then immersing in a 3 per cent, solution of 

 ammonium carbonate and allowing to dry at the ordinary 

 temperature. Presumably by this procedure we get a finely 

 divided precipitate of barium carbonate on the cloth, which, 

 under the action of sulphuric acid, will form barium sulphate. 

 Theoretically this seems all right, but the point arises whether 

 any precaution of the sort is necessary. I don't remember 

 having come across any cases where the acid produced from 

 the sulphur in the rubber has rotted the fabric, though it is 

 supposed to exert a baneful influence upon the rubber. In 

 order to prevent this treatment an alkali solution is often 

 applied to -mule texture goods, though more often in the 

 case ol old cure than dry heat cured goods. 



Patent Xo. 11,125, of 1914, granted to Arthur Xixon, of 

 Manchester relates to a specified mixing of approximate 

 ions of i redii nts for making solid rubber tires. This 

 seems somewhat of a new departure for a patent, as none of 

 the ingredients are novel and it would be extremely difficult 

 io saj lint similai formulas have not been used by others. 

 It would seem to be a case where it would be very difficult 

 to prove infringement and at the same time it puts the 

 patentee in a position to block enterprise in the constant 

 < hange which is taking place in factories with the object of 

 improving or cheapening mixings, i If course the usual pro- 

 cedure in a rubber works is to evolve a satisfactor) formula 

 ami to keep it as far as possible a secret. Unless a new- 

 process ol manufacture is involved it has not been customary 

 i k patent protection. The present patent may or may 



not refer to an exceptionally g 1 formula- on this point 



1 offer no opinion — but the fact that it is patentable seems tp 

 be a matter fraught with considerable importance to the 

 trade generally, in view of possible developments. 



additions include rubber, cane sugar, rum. rice, cocoa, , 

 starch, arrow root and an inten sortment of native woods 



A number of new exhibits I installed in the Nigi 



and British Guiana Courts in the Public Exhibition Gallerii 



imperial Institute in London, many of them consisting of 



I products, hitherto used largely in Germany bin foi 



which the producers are no, tiding a market in 



tain. The new exhibits in the Nigeria Court include 



-,s oil-palm products, native leather and materials used in 



dyeing und nuts, ostrich feathers, and Nigerian wild silk 



textiles m il In the British Guiana Court, the 



THE ENGLEBERT FACTORY NOT OPERATING. 



Letters from Englebert Bros. .\ i o., oi Liege, Belgium, writ- 

 ten Januarj 6 and 12, den; the rumor mentioned in our issue 

 i December — page 120 — to the effect that their factory was being 

 ited in the manufacture of tires for the German army. 

 They state that their plant has been closed since Vugust 4. 

 Upon the occupation of Liege by the Germans the manufactured 

 stores ol the Englebert company were requisitioned and sen- 

 tries were placed On guard to prevent tires being brought out 

 for other than German needs, but the factor) lias not been in 

 operation, except for a very brief period, when 20 workmen 

 were allowed to complete an order for joints, valves and othei 

 technical goods for certain of the Englebert customers. It is 

 supposed that the rumor may have been caused by the fact that 

 one of the furnaces in the plant lias been kept running to heat 

 the offices, where accountants are at work, and that smoke has 

 been seen issuing from the chimney. 



ITALY'S RUBBER COMMERCE. 

 The extent to which the movement of rubber in the world's 

 markets has been affected by the war. is revealed in recent tables 

 of imports and exports, published by the Department of Com- 

 merce and Labor of the United States. In the foreign trade of 

 Italy, for instance, the falling off is startling. For six months 

 ending July. 1914. Italy imported from the United Kingdom, manu- 

 facturers of rubber and elastic, valued at $515,000; in July, 1914. 

 goods of the same character to the value of $68,000; in August 

 of that year $50,000, and in September $8,000. From German), 

 Italy's imports of manufactures of rubber and elastic were, for 

 six months to July 31, 1914. $2,210,000; July. 1914. $223,000; Au- 

 gust. 1914. $110,000; September. 1914, .$21,000. From France, 

 during the six months to July 31, Italy imported manufactures 

 of rubber and elastic to the value of $1,163,000. For July, 1914, 

 these imports amounted to $102,000, for August, 1914. they had 

 declined to $54,000. and in September. 1914. they amounted to 

 $18,000. The export returns show a similar state of affairs : For 

 six months. April to September. 1913, Calcutta exported raw 

 rubber to the value of $15,943; for the same period in 1914 the 

 value of the exports was $4,573. 



The exports of rubber from French West Africa to Italy. 

 amounting in value in 1912 to $8,346,380, dropped to $2,942,822 

 m 1913. Nigeria showed a similar decline from $608,227 worth 

 of rubber in 1912 to $437,826 in 1913. In other lines, both raw 

 and partly manufactured goods, the falling of) has been equally 

 severe. 



INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF CHEMISTRY AT PETROGRAD. 

 A list of members of the Bureau of the Sections and Sub- 

 sections of tlu- Ninth International Congress of Applied 

 Chemistry, to be held at Petrograd, Russia, Vugust 8-14 of the 

 present year, is contained in the preliminary announcement oi 

 that meeting. Section V-b — India Rubber and Other Plastics — 

 is in charge of the following officers: President, B. Bysoff, of 

 the Russo- \mericaii India Rubber Co.; vice-president. L. 

 Muselius ; secretary. B. Tiedemann, of the Technical School 

 - I i hemistry of Petrograd. Communications concerning this 

 i ongress should be addressed to the honorarj secretary, W. X. 

 [patiew, 8 Winter Palace Place, Petrograd. 



Xow that the rubber tires used by the London omnibuses. 

 of which 75 per cent, were formerly made in Germany, must 

 of necessity be made by British firms, it has been suggested 

 that there is no reason why this trade should not be kept 

 permanently at home. 



