26 GOODYEARON GUM- ELASTIC. 



From the Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, 1832. 



Caoutchouc : "This substance appears to have been introduced 

 into Europe about the beginning of the eighteenth century, but 

 nothing was known of tiie mode of its production until the year 

 1736, when M. de la Condamine presented a paper to the French 

 academy, describing the tree from which it is obtained, and the 

 mode of preparation." 



" More recent observations have now determined that caout- 

 chouc is obtained from two South American plants, the Hgevia 

 caoutchouc and the Jatropha elastica." 



"Its specific gravity is 0.9335. 



" Mr. Gough observed that if slips be plunged into cold water 

 at the time they are considerably extended, they lose their con- 

 tractile power, but if plunged again into warm water, or if kept 

 warm some time in the hand, they become again elastic." 



" Caoutchouc is used for various purposes, — balls, bottles, 

 boots, torches." In Europe it is commonly used to take out the 

 marks of black lead pencils, for syringes, bougies and catheters, 

 elastic tubes and varnish. 



From Bees' Cyclopedia, about 1810. 



" In the Asiatic researches is an account by Mr. Howison, 

 surgeon of Palo Penang, of a substance exhibiting all the prop- 

 erties of caoutchouc, procured from the juice of a climbing plant, 

 the Urceolo elastica, a native of that small island and the neigh- 

 boring coast of Sumatra. If one of the thicker and older 

 stems of this plant is cut into, a white juice oozes out, of the 

 consistence of cream, and slightly pungent to the taste. By 

 exposure a short time to the action of the air, or still more expe- 

 ditiously by the addition of a few drops of acid, a decomposition 

 takes place, the homogeneous, thick, cream-like juice separates 



