The republic., 1851-10-29
From the Courier dss Flats Unis Of October T. 1851
Caoutchouc and Gutta-Percha.

Do you like caoutchouc? 1t is used everywhere,
but nobody complains of it; for what services,
great and small, docs il not render us? And how,
since have deigncd TO pay attention to it, il has
shown itself eager to be useful!
IL ID but lately since IL good for nothing. IL
1t had disappeared from the market, who would
have been aware? But now that it is studied, we
Immediately discover in it inappreciable qualities.
To say that it will reyolutioniZe several depart
ments of trade is not to overratc IT. How many
substances, at present of little value, will become
of wealth through the progress OF industry
How many products, both vegetable and animal,
unknown at this moment, may enjoy hereafter
the highest estimation.
No Sooner had caoutchouc proved its utility.
than it encountered redoubtable compe titor, and
gutta- percha, this competitor, was unknown, even
by name, not seven years ago, in all the commerce
of Europe But let us say a word regarding some
of the new applications of caoutchouc; for the nu
merous purposes for which it is employed around
US do not give complete idea OF the uses to which
it is applicable. We find on this subject some de-
tails in an English compilation Chemical
Record" II is only since the discovery OF the pro-
cess called vulcanizing caoutchouc that this pre-
cious substance has acquired true Importance
This process appears to have been discovered IN
lS43.a by Mr.. Thomas Hancock. Itconsists in this;
A sheet of caoutchouc plunged In melted sulphur
absorbs portion of it, and, at the same time, un-
dergoes considerable changes in the majority OF It's
properties. Thus il ia no longer affected by der-
ences Of temperature; cold does not hardenit; heat
does not again soften it, unless it be sufficiently
strong TO destroy it. But the most important
change is that its elasticity is greatly Increased
and remans permanent. Thus solid sphere oil
fvulcanized oaoutchouc of 63l aiilimetres in diane
ter having been compressed i'll a mill the cylin-
ders of which g. miilimetres apart, resumes lts
primitive form exactly, without retaining any trace
Of the compression to which ii has been subjected.
Another instance: A tube of caoutchouc, thus pre-
pared, of 81 centimefres in diameter, bermetcally
enclosed in cylinder, was subjected to pressure
of 100000 kilogrammes; much heat was olsen
qed and the excessive elasticity oil the substance
projected back wards, with terrible violence, fly
sgheel weighing five tons 10000 kilogranmes)
which had been used to make the experiment.
Mr. Hodges an Englishlnan, proposes to employ
this enormous elastic power to the raising OF heavy
masses Short pieces of caoutchouc, called by the
inventor po,oer purchases successvely stretched
and attached to the burden to be raised; when a
sufficient number of these power purchases is hxed
to the weight, their combined elastic force hits IT
from the ground, Ten of these apparatus, hayin
individually power capable OF twenty -nve kiio-
grammes, raise together two hundred and nifty klio-
grammes. Each bearer is fifteen centimetres long,
= and weighs about forty grammes of vucanized
caoutchouc. If these ten bearers were stretched TO
the limit Of their elasticity, (Which Is not that OF
their power of cohesion,) they would hit three
hundred and twenty kiloerammes. This power,
though obcdent to the common law oil inechanlcai
forces, yet differs sufficiently from known forces to
be distinguished as new power The same prlh'
cple ia applicable TO the towing OF vessels; II can
equally be made use Of for raising the anchor &c.
By an inverse principle, the power purchases
may be employed as a power for pryJechon; mus
acertain number of these agents might DC attached
to canon tube constructed for throwing harpoons
This application would render important services
in the whale fishing. The employment OF a cannon
charged with powder Is impractlcable; because
the noise frigheDs these creatures and makes them
hy from it, and the seanlen, TO throw the harpoon
by hand, are obliged, as is known, to proceed IN
light boats, exposed to great danger. This new
process has been tried with success. An elghty-
pounder thus charged has thrown baii one nun
dred and twenty metres; other balls have been
thrown two hundred metres and more, DOW,
constructed the same principle, and the cord On
which only was elastic, threw an arrow OF seventy,
six centimetres 10 olstancc Oh ONO huhu' eu anu
seventy metres.
Some details on the origin Of 80 precious sub
stance will doubtless be acceptable, Caoutchouc
is the product of several trees the rIchest OF whCh
in this respect are the siph0nia cdoufchonc, tpe
,recoIa elastica, the fcus eiasticG. The hrst oa
these trees immense extent oil territory }n
Central America, and the caoutchouc II produces
is that best adapted to the processes oil manuiac
ture The fcus castica abounds in ASIA IN the
Assam country, over an extent OF twenty-s thou
sand square kilometres. Finally, the Wecoia efas'
koa is common in the islands of The Indian Archi-
peiago. This tree is of so rapid growth, that III
five years, it acquires height oil two hundreo
Ieet its trunk measuring from twenty to thirty
inches in circumference. IL can produce from nifty
10 sixty pounds of sap annually, without the vege'
tation appearing to suffer- although tis sap 10 pro
cured by incsions. Ii is by eyaporatlng trat th'
caoutchouc is obtained
The tree which yields gutta- percha grows In tht
forests of the peninsula of Malacca and Sumntra
1t presents complete contrast to the preceding
Its vegetation is extremely slow. 1t takes eighty
to one hundred and twenty years to arrive at ~
full growth and the produce ls only obtained py
sacrificing the tree. When cut down, the gum
Dercha is found in a.state OF coaBulatlon pciWeSt
the wood and the bark.
(Signed) fIcToR MEuNiEss
*The "vulcanzation'' was discovered, in this
country, about four years previously to the ABOVE