1 66 EDITORIAL. 



A RUBBER VINE. 



The woody, climbing vine Parameria philippenensis Eadlk, is very 

 abundant in the Philippines. The bark of this vine contains a rubber- 

 like gum, which, however, does not flow sufficiently upon tapping to 

 obtain it in that manner. There is such a large quantity of this vine in 

 the Islands of Mindoro and Cebu that at various times companies have 

 been formed to exploit this product commercially as a rubber-yielding 

 plant. At the present time, the bark, which in Tagalog is called 

 kigulaoay, is macerated with coconut oil or some other fatty oil, and the 

 resulting thick solution of the gum is used by the natives in treating 

 wounds, the solution acting like surgeon's plaster. It is claimed that by 

 its use infection is absolutely prevented. This was the only disinfectant 

 carried by the Filipino insurgent armies and was used entirely to prevent 

 infections of wounds during the Philippine insurrection. Whether or 

 not it has any value for these purposes can not at present be stated. 

 Analyses of the bark show that it contains from 4 to 5 per cent of this 

 rubber-like gnim. Several experiments were made on methods looking 

 toward its extraction on a large scale. The bark of the vine is easily 

 gi'ound to a coarse powder, from which gasoline extracts practically all the 

 rubber. A sticky, greenish, resinous mass was obtained on distilling the 

 gasoline. It was not in this manner possible to obtain a rubber which 

 was not decidedly tacky. Carbon bisulphide gave better results, the rub- 

 ber being strong and not stickj^. The freshly extracted rubber is yellow, 

 but it soon turns black in the air and becomes somewhat tacky. Our 

 experiments seem to show that the commercial utilization of the Parame- 

 ria vine as a source of rubber is very doubtful. Much more can be 

 expected from the rubber gum from the various species of Ficus, which 

 is one of the most abundant trees in the Islands. We will soon take up a 

 study of these Finis rubbers. 



Raymond F. Bacox. 



NOTE ON THE ACTION OF SODIUM ALCOHOLATES 

 ON ALCOHOLS. 



Guerbet ^ has recently published results which demonstrate that when 

 sodium benzylate is heated with members of the lower series of fatty 

 alcohols from 200° to 220°, the hydrogen in the alcohol is substituted 

 by a benzyl group. Thus, with ethyl alcohol he obtained the alcohol 

 CoHj . CHj . CH2 . CH„ . OH, etc. men he substituted aromatic al- 



^Compt. rend. Acad. sci. (1908), 146, 1405. 



