THE LATEX AND HOW IT IS COAGULATED 139 



3 feet wide. Wooden slips are used to divide the trough into 

 conveniently-sized squares. The latex is poured into the 

 trough and coagulated. After it is coagulated the wooden 

 slips are lifted out and the coagulated latex is found to be in 

 conveniently-sized blocks, which do not require to be cut up 

 before being put through the mills. 



The objections to these troughs are the difficulty in the way 



FIG 33. Surface View of Coagulating Trough. 



FIG. 34. Side View of Coagulating Trough. 



of properly skimming the latex and the use of the wooden 

 cross clips to divide the rubber into conveniently-sized blocks. 

 No wooden article should be repeatedly used in the treatment 

 of latex, as it is apt to become infected with fungus. The same 

 objection, therefore, applies to the use of wooden tables, on which 

 lumps of coagulated latex are laid just in front of the machines, 

 within convenient reach of the coolies running the mills, and 

 on which the sheets of rubber are often thrown as they have 

 been finished at a particular mill. All such tables should be 

 constructed of solid cement and covered with white glazed tiles, 



