Another application of the same principle has 

 given us a conversation-tube for a railway car- 

 riage. With it two individuals may hold an ani- 

 mated debate, without edifying their neighbors 

 with one word. This little instrument, about a 

 yard long, is one of the greatest curiosities in the 

 show-rooms. By placing one end to the ear, and 

 whispering in the lowest tone possible at the 

 other, the voice may actually be heard louder than 

 it issued from the lips. Most useful would it be 

 to one whose voice failed, as voices do sometimes ; 

 or to one in the habit of conversing with himself, 

 as people sometimes are. If the end be placed 

 against the watch-pocket, the ticking becomes so 

 preternatural that we are ready to believe, if the 

 watch had stopped, yet so excellent a sound-tube 

 would convey at least a faint tick. 



Gutta percha tubing, truly, is invaluable. In 

 chemistry it is used for conveying oils, and acids, 

 and alkalies. Only strong nitric or sulphuric 

 acids seem to touch it. This inertness with the 

 acids, makes it useful in manifold ways beside 

 tubing. With dilute nitric it is used by the re- 

 finers as a coating to their various vessels. 

 Glass ' carboys ' to contain muriatic acid have al- 

 most become things that were. Pipes of this acid, 

 secure in gutta percha, are now constantly travel- 

 ling in every direction upon the railways ; the di- 

 rectors of which, a few years ago, would not suffer 

 it to Jbe conveyed on any consideration what- 

 ever. 



We must not leave the premises without a look 

 at the most recent application of gutta percha. 

 Of course, that is as a covering for the telegraph 

 wire. It is hardly possible that this wonderful 

 triumph of human intellect, by which a thought 

 breathed in Britain is imprinted on a foreign 

 strand, even while in its birth-throes, would yet 

 have awaited man, without the aid of gutta 

 percha. Amongst the multifarious operations, 

 there is not one that requires so much care as 

 in the covering of this wire. It is made by 

 thousands of miles ! In the room appropriated 

 to this work, we may see coils of wire represent- 

 ing distances that would have startled our grand- 

 sires. We have heard of such lengths of wire being 

 sunk in the neighboring canal — a most convenient 

 store-room — that we would not dare mention, for 

 fear our authenticity should be questioned in that 

 and other matters. 



The machinery employed in the preparation of 

 the covered telegraph wire, is thus described : — 

 1 Two pairs of heated, polished, iron flatting rol- 

 lers, one vertically above the other, are fed with 

 soft gutta percha cylinders, which they deliver on 

 the other side as flattened sheets. These are made 

 to travel onward, and in the interval between them 

 there also travels a row of copper wires. These — 

 *. e., the parallel sheets of gutta percha, and the 

 intervening wires — all meet between a pair of 

 grooved cutting rollers, not quite close together. 

 The grooves are, of course, the size of the re- 

 quired casing, and each wire precisely hits the 

 centre of a groove. The whole, therefore, appears 

 on the other side as a band of covered wires, 

 which may either be left together, as in the tele- 

 graph for railway tunnels, or pulled apart into sin- 

 gle pieces. The wires thus encased are soaked 

 for a considerable time in water, which is sure to 

 find out any flaw, though invisible to the eye, which 



would prevent complete insulation.' In this way 

 the sub-marine telegraph was manufactured. The 

 single wires receive two or three coats of the soft 

 substance, and in the end are wound off upon a 

 wheel at a distance. In part, the process resem- 

 bles wire-drawing, looked at through strong spec- 

 tacles ; except, indeed, that the wire is not 

 lengthened nor lessened in bulk (very modest ex- 

 ceptions truly). Before winding on the wheel, 

 it glides through the hands of a youth, who by 

 practice becomes expert enough to detect the 

 minutest flaw. Several tests are applied to prove 

 the perfect insulation of the wire. The last of 

 all, is that of sending an electric charge through a 

 large coil. If they stand the trial, they are pro- 

 nounced fit for use. 



Space will not permit us to indicate half the 

 useful and ornamental things placed before us at 

 the gutta percha works. We must introduce 

 irregularly a few more exemplifications of its 

 wondrous utility, and conclude. ' Embossing' is 

 a work that promises to extend itself. Raised 

 maps and globes, for general purposes of teach- 

 ing ; and raised reading lessons for the blind, 

 are made with comparative facility. Already 

 it is greatly used in surgery. A solution in 

 naphtha, which latter evaporates, and leaves the 

 gutta percha uninjured, is used to procure sheets 

 of exceeding tenuity. As a balsam for wounds, 

 this solution will quite supersede the objection- 

 able 'gold-beater's skin,' or patch of 'court 

 plaister.' Splints moulded to the shape of the 

 fractured limb, have been used with great suc- 

 cess. In one case recorded, that of ' broken jaw' 

 from the kick of a horse, the patient was enabled 

 to eat after three days, a fact unparalleled. The 

 vastly greater comfort of these splints can only 

 be avouched by an unfortunate patient. Stereo- 

 type plates have been made. The clearness and 

 sharpness of edge, and purity of form, when 

 moulded, make it well suited for this purpose. 

 As many as 20,000 impressions have been 

 taken from an experimental plate at the works, 

 and the woodcuts and text seem as fresh as at 

 first. 



It was brought into notice in the form of 

 a horsewhip. We may not spare a sentence to 

 speak of the number of whips now manufactured. 

 Nor can we refer in detail to the gutta percha 

 boats which were found of such eminent use in 

 the search after Sir John Franklin. Nor of 

 the thanks due to gutta percha, from the beau- 

 tiful science of photography, for 'pans,' and 

 other aids which it affords better than any other 

 material. Nor, going from great things to small, 

 of cricket-balls, and clothes '-lines, of policemen's 

 staves, and utilities for the ' diggings.' 



We will offer no apology for having gone 

 so fully into this subject. It possesses an 

 interest of no common kind ; and the de- 

 tails will be perused with considerable plea- 

 sure by all who, residing at a distance, can- 

 not avail themselves of a personal visit. 

 The public now-a-days, are on the qui-vive 

 to know everything ; and it is delightful to 

 be able to assist in the dissemination of sound, 

 useful knowledge. 



These particulars will be read with more 



