CUTTING AND WASHING MACHINE. 153 



The representations in the drawing are deemed sufficient to 

 give the reader a very correct idea of the manner in which the 

 gum is reduced by grinding to the plastic state, and is afterwards 

 spread by callenders. 



CUTTING AND WASHING MACHINE. 



This is performed with the machine represented by No. 1. This 

 machine is the same as that used by paper-makers in cutting rags. 

 It is simply a large vat, twelve feet long by four broad, and two 

 feet deep ; over this runs a shaft, upon which is a large drum or 

 cylinder, about two feet in diameter, running on one side of the 

 interior of the vat: this drum is furnished with shears or knives 

 set in it, and other knives are set in the bottom of the vat. When 

 revolving, this drum creates a current in the water under and be- 

 tween its shears. The bottles, shoes, or masses of gum, are first 

 chopped with a hatchet, or cut with circular knives, into pieces of 

 from one inch to three inches square. About five hundred pounds 

 of the gum in this state is put into the vat at once, which is 

 passed continuously between the shears of the revolving cutter 

 and its bed, so that in the course of about four hours the 

 whole mass is cut quite fine, and cleansed from bark, clay, 

 &c., as far as possible, at which time it is ready for crushing or 

 grinding. 



By the use of this engine the scraps of the factories, which 

 were formerly considered entirely worthless, are now worked into 

 the valuable fabric described as felt, used for steam packing, shoe 

 soles, &;c. A large proportion of imported India rubber, especially 

 of the India gum, was nearly useless, from the quantity of bark in 

 it, until this engine came into use. The attention of the writer 

 was first drawn to this engine by the following incident. On 

 examining an India rubber belt, which was put into a paper-mill 

 on trial, the proprietor complained to him that the India rubber 

 which came from suspenders, mixed in the rags, damaged his 



