258 
drop. epa ‘means of drying would have to be devised. "When 
No. 1 was very clammy, a = 2: s firmer than No. 1, but not nin 
T. 
so good as No. 4. No. 4m e more easily handled in drying. 
They were all Mat: ‘hort, "win very little elusticity, this might have 
been expected from appea of the original samples. They were 
‘kept in the drying room no geral than would be required if working 
ona een 
xed with a a suitable proportion of sulphur and vulcanised, they 
nds 
tured soft an but were not blistered. With pigments it may be 
er uM slightly tougher. It can evidently not be used by 
itself in y form. . All the samples were troublesome to work in the 
i machines. 1t oid not be right to assume that this behaviour 
ness, 
- When we take into aecount the great improvements which have 
‘béen introduced in preparing certain African and Asiatic varieties of 
rubber, manufacturers must feel that the praiseworthy efforts of 
"Mr. Alvan Millson to increase our sources of supply are in the right 
v ru f 
‘in the way these samples have beats prepared is such as to ensure the 
best product in a commercial sense, is à most important matter. The 
lant tissues, whieh completely modify its character. It is this con- 
sideration which would lead one to ask how far the levatan of the 
juice of the C ástilloa elis tica can be app pli ed to another plant, the 
juice of which, though containing caoutchouc, has very marked secu 
Vo 
am not aware of any native india-rubber with an acid reaction ; 
ven the juice of the Para c tree, Hevea brasiliensis, is distinetly 
of amm 
alkaline when drawn, and exhales a strong smell onia. The 
rubber from this source is: inch In: ting the nuts of the 
Urueari s rge quantity of acetic uim is given off, which pro- 
variety is obtained from the same source, and is nof smoked although 
itis strongly acid, we must consider the yeneration of acid as due to 
fermentation, at least in a very great measure. "The samples obtained 
from the ‘ * Abba” tree are not acid, but whether the product could be 
improved by gine, Paton Mrs ordinary crude acetic acid, which at 
the same time would a those changes which are Hable to go on 
` afterwards, to the deinen. probably, of the rubber, is worth finding 
out. I thought it would be important to ascertain whether the soft 
clammy condition of the pos wa e to oxidation, or to the 
presence-of resinous matter white pulverulent resin was obtained 
from sample No. 4, amoun ting to o 24°48 per cent. of its weight. The 
eaoutchoue, b destructive gro pend yelded bendi and the 
other produets obtained from dia-rubber. nen resins exist in the 
juites of india-rubber yielding plants as a rule they are combined with 
water, tes, which is 0 ir use for vulcanizing, since 
e 
may be bardered by pigments, but its strergth is still v vu low,. It can 
