274 
perhaps worth while to criticise it, and to point out that it is just 
as easy though a little slower to prep ire the rubber without as with 
acid, that it is mere guess-work to st ite that the rubber is deterio- 
rated by the use of acetic acid in coagulation as no manufacturer 
has yet raised any objection to it and that the acidised rubber of 
the Straits has fetched higher prices than the non-acidised rubber 
of Ceylon. 
It may be pointed out that acetic acid evaporates more rapidly 
than water, and consequently in drying goes off the rubber as 
readily as the water does. 
It is regrettable that writers often publish pure guess-work as 
solid facts so often. Most misleading and too credulously accepted 
statements are thus published in all kinds of papers. No facts have 
yet come to light to suggest that the use of small quantities of 
acetic acid are injurious to the rubber, and when they do, we can 
do without its use. — Editor . 
From the “ Times of Ceylon T 
Monday, June 6th. 1904. 
Editorial. 
RUBBER MAY FALL TO 2j. 6 d. A LB, 
The India Rubber World , a purely trade journal representing the 
“ Caoutchouc, Gutta percha, Asbestos and allied industries,” . to 
quote from its title page, takes this paper to task for expressing 
surprise at the fluctuations shown in the prices of fine Para rubber 
kindly supplied us in tabular form by Mr. F. M, Wolff, of Ham- 
burg, and published by us as a supplement on Friday, 15th April 
last. The article referred to is reproduced in full in another 
column, so that our readers can see for themselves what this trade 
paper says. We are told many things certainly new to us, and we 
venture to think new to a good many others. We learn that the 
fluctuations m the price of rubber are “often over a shilling” a lb. 
that no one could possibly “conceive of them as stable ” which is 
rather a disconcerting statement. Then we are told that stock has 
nothing to do with the price of Para rubber — “to say that the 
stock in the United Kingdom determines the price is to put the 
cart before the horse” says this trade oracle. Well, we-have lived 
under this unfortunate delusion for many years until our eyes have 
been opened by this India rubber paper. We have always thought 
that the stock of an article in first hands— which were the figures 
given by us — had a good deal to do with the price. It seems we 
were wrong. It is the price which determines the stock ; but we 
will not labour the point. We refer our readers to the article itself, 
which contains one interesting paragraph from a producer’s point 
of view, namely, that dealing with over-production. Figures are 
