rubber pur et simple to articles of dress;
and, in eighteen hundred and twenty, took
out a patent for caoutchouc applied "to the
wrists of gloves, to waistcoat backs and
waistcoat bands, to pockets to prevent their
being picked, to trouser and gaiter straps, to
braces, to stockings and garters, to riding–
belts, to stays, to boots, shoes, clogs, and
pattens, when the object is to put them on
and off without lacing or tying, to the soles
of shoes and boots," et cetera. But now a
difficulty arose. How about his fastenings?
These india–rubber bands must be attached
somehow, and women were set to sew the
ends neatly to the stuff; but, in a short
time, each needle prick became a rent, and
the whole broke to pieces. Springs were then
used; that is, strips of rubber thicker at the
ends where the sewing was to be than in the
middle. But, after making special tools for
cutting them out, and going to many other
like expenses, the springs were returned by
hundreds, broken and rejected, on the father's
hands. After a few experiments to find the
reason of these unforeseen fractures, it was
discovered that those springs on which
boiling water was used after they were
cut did not crack like the rest; and this
was the first insight of the value of heat
in the treatment of caoutchouc. All springs,
therefore, were henceforward plunged into
a hot bath as soon as cut, and no more
complaints were made of their cracking or
snapping.

Rubber was imported only in the form of
animals or bottles—that is, hollow cylinders
of unequal circumference. These bottles Mr.
Hancock cut into circular strips which thus
needed no sewing to fasten round the wrists
of gloves, et cetera. They were treated to a
hot bath, passed on to the glove, kept at the
fullest tension, and a strip of leather was
then sewn over them; after which the
rubber was warmed, when it contracted and
gathered up the glove or stocking, or whatever
it might be, in "beautifully small, neat
corrugations." This was another advance.
The woven or ribboned rubber—now called
elastic par excellence—came at a later date,
and will be spoken of in its place. But now
the waste cuttings had become an unmanageable
heap, and with the scanty supply of
fresh caoutchouc in the market, Mr.
Hancock felt that he must make some good of his
superfluities; restore and re–embody them,
so to speak, if he intended to push his trade
further. He did not know very well how to
set about this; but the first thing he tried
was a Papin's Digester, from which he got a
thick fluid like treacle, but not of half so
much use. Then he endeavoured to utilise
his discovery of the uniting quality of fresh–
cut surfaces, if subjected to heat. But, though
he obtained, by means of a mould, pressure,
and heat, solid blocks of four or live inches
long, the experiment was not considered
conclusive, or, on the whole, of much working
power. It did not help the matter either to
make the shreds into mince–meat, so as to
increase the number of freshly–cut surfaces;
the conglomerate would not hold together,
but fell to pieces like a ball of coarse cement.
Then Mr. Hancock bethought himself of
tearing the shreds; and for that purpose
constructed a machine called the Masticater,
wherein was a cylinder armed with teeth
that tore and teased and rended the hot
rubber shreds savagely. Finding the machine
becoming heavier to turn, after a certain
time of this furious mastication, Mr.
Hancock opened it and took out, on his first
inspection, a curiously grained ball—the
grainings showing the joinings of the shreds—
and afterwards a solid, heated, homogeneous
mass. These experiments were repeated
until the machine (a wooden one) was worn
out; but the problem was solved; the waste
cuttings could be utilised, and the india–
rubber manufacture was an accomplished
fact. The first machine worked a charge of
two ounces, the one in present use at
Manchester works from one hundred and eighty
to two hundred pounds, and turns out blocks
six feet long, twelve or thirteen inches wide,
and seven inches thick. From the first blocks
were cut thin sheets, which then were dried
and joined by heat edge to edge, and thus
made of any size that might be required;
though the first use made of this sheet
rubber was not one to need any great
extension, it being only to cover the necks
of corks.

It was now found that a very useful
article might be made by mixing pitch and
tar together with a strong solution of caoutchouc,
then making it up into sheets for the
sheathing of ships, et cetera. The first
vessel so sheathed was the yacht of the late
Sir William Curtis, and the second was the
Kinnersley Castle. Waterproof garments of
various kinds, from cloaks to shoe soles;
waterproof bags and air cushions; billiard–
table cushions; the tires of wheels and the
surfaces of cylinders and rollers; washers
and collars for stop–cocks; and many surgical
instruments and mechanical appliances were
continually rolling out ot Mr. Hancock's
works; each new application developing some
new feature which modified or controlled the
operations of the future. Thus, exposure to
the sun's rays was found to decompose light–
coloured rubber; and this led to the
discovery of the value of colouring or blackening
such as had to be exposed; which discovery
led to further results still, as time and
experience went on. A kind of artificial leather
was now made, "by saturating felt, carded
wool, and hair, and in combining other fibrous
substances, such as hemp and flax, with the
liquid rubber, and when dry submitting the
whole to pressure." This process turned out
a strong and tough material, like real leather
in appearance; the tougher kinds of which
were used for such rough things as shoe