The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1913-03-05
SOME SECRETS
WORTH MILLIONS
In the Inventive and Lab
Oratory Work.
SUBSTITUTES HARD TO MAKE
Chemica; Formulas Which
Have Baffled Scientists
For Centuries.
VALUE. OF ANCIENT FORMULAS

IL was announced lew Weeks
ago that a distinguished chemist of
Moscow had solved the problem of,
making artificial rubber, and that
he could sell the new product at
about Is 4d pound
Yet, in spite of this widely dis
.seminated piece of news, the price
of rubber remains pretty much the
same. The reason may be found
by examining the Patent Office rec
ords. During the past 10 or IL
years nearly 800 patents for arti-
fetal rubber have been taken out.
Substitutes have been made from
petroleum, from coal tar, turpen-
tine, peat, from nitrated linseed oil
and by treating cereals with ply
alin.
The latter invention made a con-
siderable sensation so long ago as
1906; yet, Judging by the constant
ly increasing demand for the nat
ural product, it has had little effect
upon the rubber market.
The chemist, working in his lab
oratory, can take any substance
and analyze it-that is, break it up
into it's original constituents and
tell you what they are, and how
much of each element the substance
in question is composed of.
Gee But when IT comes TO building up-
the original substance out of its
prime constituents, there he is at
sea. BY dint of long and patient
experiments: or perhaps by pure
chance, he may succeed in repro
ducing some few natural products,
but that is as far as he can go.
Indigo dye took many years to
synthesize A German chemist ac-
complished it at last, but the Gu
rious discovery was made that, If
blended with the natural product,
made from the indigo plant, the
color produced was both more dur
able and brighter than that made
by either dye alone. So artificial
indigo has not yet ruined the indigo
planter.
Artificial camphor has also been
produced. oIt is now made from
pine-tree turpentine. But the
chemist has not yet succeeded in
synthesizing gutta percha. This
commodity grows yearly more rare
Enormous quantities are required
for making golf balls and for the
covering of submarine cables. A
fortune awaits the clever man who
can make artificial gutta percha, at
a price which will allow it to COM
pete with the Juice of the Dichopis
gutta.
Cork is another substance of ev-
ery-day use which seems to defy
the inventor The only substitute
for cork is paper treated with par
afiin wax. But such a cork could
not be used for a bottle of wine.
So far nothing has been artifcially
made to compete with the bark of
the cork oak.
At Delhi. the new capital of In
dia, stands an ancient iron monu-
ment, which. though exposed to all
weathers, never rusts or decays.
Yet it has no protective covering
Here is secret which would be
simply invaluable to the world,
which has been discovered by some
Indian artificer of old time and
most unfortunately been lost.
At recent meeting of the Iron
and Steel Institute Mr.. Cushman
said that we could face the future |
with complacency If we could re-
discover the secret. To shipowners
alone 1t would mean a yearly saving |
Of millions. Rust is the great en-
any of the steel ship, and she has
to go into dock to have
Ter hull coated with anti-corrosive
olution.
The mortar made by the ancients
lefies our laboratory workers of to-
lay. Many ancient dyes are more
durable than any modern ones. and
If these, too, We have lost the Sc
ret. as well as of the wonderful
md practically everlasting ink
which was used by the monks of