Oils and Fats. 



102 



[August, 1911. 



Y branch, it creates, by suction, a partial 

 vacuum in the other arm, and this 

 in turn is connected with the cleaning 

 tool. The dust laden air draws up the 

 tube, encounters the water at the junc- 

 tion of the Y, and the dirt is washed 

 down the drain. Rubber tips for 

 furniture, rubber tiling for floors, 

 rubber trays and dishes are made for 

 photographers, while rubberized cotton 

 fabric for balloons is much less expen- 

 sive, lighter and more impenetrable 

 than the water-proofed silk heretofore 

 used. In addition to its extensive 

 employment in tyres, rubber has found 

 very many uses in connection with the 

 automobile, mats for the floors, pads 

 for the pedals, hand grips for the levers, 

 all are made of rubber, and to some 



extent it enters into shock absorbers 

 and similar devices, to say nothing of 

 the tubing for gas lamps, electrical in- 

 sulation, hose connections for radiators, 

 etc. It would be possible to enumerate 

 a thousand and one purposes for which 

 rubber in various forms is employed, 

 that have been added within the past 

 few years to its uses. It is a question 

 whether, with all the additions that 

 have been made to the output within 

 the past few years, in the shape cf plant- 

 ation production, reclaimed rubber, etc., 

 the "new uses " have not more than 

 made up for the increase in production, 

 so that, as far a9 the volume at the dis- 

 posal of the consumers is concerned, 

 there is but little improvement to be 

 recorded, 



OILS AND FATS. 



HYDNOCARPUS VENENATA, 

 GAERTN. 



The Source op the Poisonous 

 Cardamom-Pat used in the 

 Margarine "Back a." 



(By A Voigt in Jahresb. d. Verein. jur 

 angew. Botanik, p. 171, 8, 1911.) 



[Abstracted by J. C. Willis.] 



In November and December, 1910, many 

 people in the large German towns were 

 made ill by a margarine called Backa, 

 Investigation showed that a fat had 



been obtained from England under the 

 name " Cardamom-fat," known also as 

 Maratti-fat. 



Some seeds were obtained and proved 

 to be those of Hydnocarpus venenata 

 (Makulu, Singh., Makal, Tarn.) a common 

 tree in the lowcountry of Ceylon. The 

 fruits are used here as a fish poison, 

 having narcotic properties, and the oil 

 from the seeds is used in skin complaints. 



Enquiry showed that these seeds are 

 known in England as "false Carda- 

 moms," and are used to adulterate the 

 true Cardamoms, with which they have 

 much likeness. 



FIBRES. 



INDIA AND PAPER-MAKING. 



(Prom the Indian Agriculturist, Vol. 

 XXXVI. , No. 2. February 1, 1911.) 

 Mr. William Raitt, an authority on 

 paper fibre, read a paper at the Allaha- 

 bad Industrial Conference in which he 

 makes out a good case for thinking that 

 a liberal reward awaits those capitalists 

 who take up in earnest the manufacture 

 of paper-pulp in this country. The pre- 

 sent position of India in regard to the 

 production and consumption of paper 

 is not much to its credit. Mr. Raitt 

 estimates the consumption at 40,000 

 tons a year, as against a consumption of 

 a million tons in the United Kingdom, 

 This limited demand is perhaps not to 

 be wondered at when it is considered 



that the vast bulk of the people are 

 illiterate, and have, therefore, no use for 

 books, magazines or newspapers. But 

 it is at first sight surprising that a half 

 even of the small amount of paper 

 consumed in India is imported from 

 Europe, and that a country which 

 abounds in the raw materials of the 

 paper industry should be dependent on 

 foreign countries whose supplies of raw 

 material are steadily and rapidly di- 

 minishing. The explanation which Mr. 

 Raitt offers of these puzzling facts is 

 very simple. The essential condition 

 which the manufacturer of paper must 

 satisfy is cheapness. Hence he has in 

 every age used materials rejected by 

 other crafts. When rags were worth- 

 less, before the days of shoddy, he used 

 rags. A rise in the price of rags drove 



