Gums, Renins, 454 [Dec. 1906. 



mixed creosote with alcohol, ten of the former to one of the latter, and then added 

 a few drops of latex the creosote mixed completely, and the result was the 

 complete antiseptism of the rubber. There were biscuits lying in the museum at 

 the gardens eight years old as good as ever. There was hardly any mould on them 

 except a little that could be rubbed off with the hand. That rubber from the 

 Amazon was quite damp. He thought it contained 15 per cent, of moisture, whereas 

 in Ceylon rubber there was only about one per cent, and here was rubber in perfectly 

 good and sound condition taking 15 per cent, of moisture and creosote. The Amazon 

 rubber seemed to him much more springy than the Ceylon rubber. If they took a 

 Ceylon biscuit and pulled it out, it would spring back a certain distance and then 

 creep back slowly into the original shape. If they took a piece of South American 

 rubber, it sprang back at once. That was one of the. 



COMPLAINTS AGAINST CEYLON RUBBER IN THE LONDON MARKET. 



that its quality was not quite good enough for the finest kind of work, and they 

 should try to improve it in that respect. He suggested that some of the proprietary 

 planters might try as an experiment preparing rubber with creosote and preparing 

 it .in blocks before it was quite dry. It was quite possible they might get better 

 results, and he thought it would be well worth the while of some proprietary plauter 

 to try that. With regard to the wild rubber His Excellency asked if there had been 

 any figures recently from South America, but he was afraid tapping was not done 

 there with sufficient care for that. In South America they simply made a big gash 

 on the tree with an axe and stuck on a cup with mud. In South America, however, 

 the latex ran for a longer time than in Ceylon in a fluid condition, and Mr. Parkins, 

 who worked in Ceylon in 1898, was of opinion that the latex was of a poorer quality 

 than the latex of the West. He found a large percentage of latex in the old trees 

 at Henaratgoda, and he was of opinion from the figures that probably on the whole 

 the latex in South America was rather weaker than that in Ceylon. 



RUBBER PREPARATION ON THE AMAZON. 



H. E. the Governor ;— Is this sample of rubber prepared with creosote, or 

 with the smoke of a particular nut ? 



Dr. Willis explained that the preparation of this rubber was done in the fol- 

 lowing manner : — The man had a large bucket of latex in a liquid condition. He had 

 a paddle in his hand. He dipped the paddle in the bucket and held it over a flower- 

 pot in which he had nuts of a certain palm burning. He revolves the paddle until 

 the latex stiffens and then dips it in the latex again, &c. Mr. Parkins analysed the 

 smoke of that nut and found it was a fairly clear smoke, and he found the smoke on 

 burning the nuts contained a large quantity of acetic acid and creosote, and it was 

 on that result that Mr. Parkins based his method for the preparation of Ceylon latex. 

 He based his method on a long series of experiments. He did not know if there Avas 

 anything else in the smoke. Its marked feature was that it contained a quantity of 

 acetic acid and a fair amount of creosote. 



Mr. Ryan :— In continuation of Dr. Willis's remarks, the acid to which the 

 character of this smoke is due is a crude form of acetic acid. Just as fusel oil is the 

 foreshot of whisky, so this acid is really the cheaper form of pure acid we are now 

 using, and it might be a moot point whether it were not better to use this pyro- 

 ligneous acid instead of acetic acid. Perhaps before the end of the Exhibition we shall 

 have some data to lay before youupon that point. 



THE MARKET VALUE OP CHEMICALLY PURE RUBBER. 



Mr. Carruthers said in connection with that matter it might be interest- 

 ing if he mentioned that some nine months ago a prize was offered in the Federated 

 Malay States for the most chemically pure rubber of any kind that could be prepared 



