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PROGRESS OF EXPERIMENTS. 105 



England spun their own linen, and the fathers and brothers were 

 clad in the manufacture of the housewife. 



The writer is well aware that in alluding to incidents of this 

 kind, he is speaking of things that are in themselves unimportant. 

 They are but trials that are common to the lot of humanity. 

 But it often happens that the merest trifles assume a degree of 

 importance from their relation to a particular subject, or the 

 state of mind of the individual affected by them. 



An accident causing detention on a journey, when one is at 

 leisure, may become a source of amusement, while the same 

 accident occurring at another time, would be attended with ex- 

 treme suffering to the individual, and with serious consequences 

 to others, for which reason it might deserve to be recorded. 



On arriving at New York, the inventor was kindly furnished 

 with a room in which he might continue his experiments, by a 

 friend.* A druggistf with whom he was acquainted, supplied 

 such drugs as were necessary for his experiments. He was 

 soon led to suppose that the decomposition of the goods previously 

 made in New Haven, was the effect of the turpentine, and he 

 now supposed that he had discovered a remedy, by boiling the 

 articles compounded with magnesia in quick lime and water, 

 which appeared to have the effect of tanning the gum, and 

 destroying its viscous property. 



He made by this method some beautiful specimens of fancy 

 articles, and some sheets of India rubber, for which, in the 

 autumn of 1835, medals were obtained at the fairs of the 

 Mechanics and American Institutes. The improvement was 

 then supposed to be complete, the surface of the articles was 

 quite dry, having just the appearance which the fabric has 

 that is now called gum-elastic drapery. 



These were the first sheets of gum manufactured in any 

 country, and were considered great curiosities, as well as a great 

 improvement, for which he obtained letters patent, the 

 day of . In a few weeks, however, he was greatly 



disappointed to find that when the goods were w^ashed with weak 



' Mr. J. W. Sexton. t Messrs. Silas Carle & Nephew. 



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