Having traced at length the discovery of vulcanization and its contingent results, we now call attention to remarks that have appeared in various English scientific works, of acknowledged authority. The whole process of vulcanization and its application is fully and clearly set forth. And here we would remark that the English have not been backward in publishing with commendable liberality the various discoveries and improvements as they were perfected. On the other hand, all the American inventors have studiously avoided, not only the publication of their discoveries, but have endeavored to obstruct and prevent all investigation, the publication of which would simply make known to the world the results of their genius. The object seems to have been to throw an air of mystery around their discoveries, and by thus preserving to themselves their secrets, be enabled to place an undue value upon the manufactured article. Were they not fully protected in the manufacture and sale of their goods, by the patents which have been so lavishly granted, American inventors would be fully justified in preserving as profound secrets, the results of their perseverance and patient toil, but as it is, we can see no substantial reason for this endeavor to shield from the public eye that which would add to the general stock of scientific knowledge, and could but be honorable to the manliness and genius of the discoverer.
We are indebted to the London Mechanic’s Magazine for many of the valuable thoughts which we shall now introduce to the reader.
CHAPTER II.
VULCANIZATION.
We have attempted to show, that amongst the number of advantages claimed for the hard vulcanized India-rubber, is that of the power of closely imitating almost any article, substance, or material. In doing this, we ought to have referred to the Vulcanite Court of the Crystal Palace for a full corroboration of the position we desired to assume. We are now about to advance a step farther, and shall put forward proofs that hard India-rubber, submitted to a certain facile process, not only has a right to be placed side by side with almost all and every material it affects to imitate, but has a further right to be considered as superior. Of course there are exceptionable cases to this, as in all rules, and these will be pointed out during this attempt to give a thought-bearing digest of the present position of this discovery.
The material produced by vulcanization being as hard as, and capable of a greater amount of wear, than iron, brass, and, in many cases, even than steel, we have the element of durability to start with; and it must be recollected, that this wonderful power of resisting wear, both from friction and the action of the atmosphere is endowed by a process as facile as that possessed by the baker of ship biscuits. That while the mass or dough is in its soft state, it falls into, and as it were, courts the required form of its future existence with a fluency possessed by scarcely any other material. Designs of the most exquisite kind, or of the simplest character, may thus be turned out like tea cakes, and like tea cakes carried to the vulcanizing oven. But here, the simile stops, for these biscuits of Mr. Goodyear defy the teeth of time and the digestion of ages. There are manufacturers, however, that cry out, “we don’t want articles that will last.” This is a narrow view of things. Experience is opposed to so unjust a sentiment. A moment’s thought would forever dispel the illusion. Is there any less demand for iron furniture or iron household utensils, because such articles in that metal will last longer than others? Or is the diamond less prized because it is nearly indestructible? The family of mankind, ever growing and increasing, with its varied wants, its constant changes of fortune and alterations in its tastes, its coquetry, and its caprice, will find for the industry of the world quite enough to keep it employed.
With the introduction of machinery there was to have been a less demand for “hands;” with the introduction of railways, horses were literally to go to the dogs. Need instances be multiplied? Perhaps it would be better to do so, while such a feeling is in the ascendant; but space is imperative, although prejudice is stubborn. But, very naturally observes the reader who has possessed himself of some one or more of the specimens from the Crystal Palace, “this quality of cheapness is a myth.” I for one have put it to the test, and this stick, for instance, cost me 5s. or this pencil 2s. Now, in the first place, the stick or the pencil should be compared with any other sticks or pencils professing all the recommendations of those in question, to arrive at a fair appreciation; and in the next, it should be remembered that those examples are produced from abroad. They bear a duty, and in many cases, they proceed from small and experimental operations. We have made especial inquiries into these facts, and find that such is the case, and that such circumstances are no more than reasonable, as appertaining to every invention upon its first introduction.
The Daguerreotype is a case in point. The inventor, and all those concerned in placing the discovery before the public, take care that the prices shall be kept so that a remuneration shall be obtained before it is let down to the bare cost of production, added, it may be, to interest upon capital employed.
The mass, in its soft stage, does its own work; that is to say, a sheet of it may be laid over a mould, and the bare weight of a shovel full of sand cast upon it will press it into every lineament of the matrix. This sheet of the soft material may have for its components, a large proportion of oxide or of saw-dust, as the desire may be either an imitation of bronze or of some particular wood, or other material. * * *
Mr. Charles Goodyear, in an unpublished work upon the subject, states that the first pair of India-rubber over-shoes were made by himself and daughter in a cellar in New York. There are now millions of them made each year at the various India-rubber mills throughout America, France and Belgium. But a singular desire to appreciate and follow sequences, and an indomitable perseverance in conquering difficulties, appears to have acted upon the industrious mind of Mr. Goodyear, in this direction with peculiar force. The India-rubber over shoe perfected, Mr. Goodyear did not sit down quietly to contemplate his work, even when apparently complete, but strongly convinced that there was more to do than covering the feet of nations with a water-proof substance, however symmetrical in its form and comfortable in its fit under almost every circumstance, he felt that if the leather boot or shoe could be altogether dispensed with, and there could be substituted for it an India-rubber boot or shoe, a boon of priceless worth would be conferred upon humanity, the more so as the item of boots and shoes to a poor family, or even to a person of moderate means, was one of considerable importance. To reduce the cost of this article of clothing, and to give to the poor man a pair of boots at one-third of the present expense, and not as now, at more than one-half of his week’s wages, has been one of the special objects of Mr. Goodyear’s untiring life. That he will succeed in this, there now exists not a shadow of doubt. The combinations of the hard, the semi-hard, and the soft vulcanized India-rubber, have given him all the needful elements of success, and ere long, boots and shoes of India-rubber which need not a morsel of leather for their formation, will be as plentiful as over-shoes are now, and even more so. The power of the hard, the semi-hard, and the soft vulcanized India-rubber to resist wear, is one of their extraordinary features. Heels, for instance, made of the soft material, have been put on to shoes of boys at the United Parish School at Norwood, and on to the toes of the same boots iron tips of the eighth of an inch have been secured. The result of this test has been that the iron has been worn out, and the heel, when removed and weighed, has scarcely suffered the slightest appreciable difference in weight or density. Mr. Goodyear has already made arrangements to disperse heels of this material by the hogshead. He fashions them in a circular form making the outer margin of the hard material and the inner circle of the soft. The hard material is smooth and beautifully polished. It does not require blacking, and will keep its lustre a long time. The centre bulb projects beyond the surface of the hard ring, and when trodden upon yields and is flattened by the weight of the body. One of the applications of this form of heel bears directly upon the perfectibility of a boot or shoe wholly made of India-rubber. In the first place, the rotary principle of heel is employed which one might suppose almost an unnecessary arrangement, and in the next, the peculiar form of the bulb or lobe acts when pressed upon as a valve or air-pump, and sends at every step into those shoes or boots properly prepared, a certain amount of air, or perhaps it would be more correct to say, it displaces a certain amount of air which finds renewal from other parts of the boot. Is a boot made unsightly?—not in the least. They are really elegant in form and general contour. Our readers are familiar with the corrugated dress boots. The India-rubber boots we have seen closely imitated these, but it may be added, that in thus copying, Mr. Goodyear copies his own, as the corrugated dress boot was introduced more to prepare the eye for what was to follow, than to give the beau of New York, of Paris, and of London, any particular style of dress boot. In this, Mr. Goodyear displays a consummate knowledge of human nature. Had he brought out a corrugated boot without this avant courier and child of fashion, his invention might have possessed very essential recommendations but that of “optical familiarity,” and the work of years would have been as nought.
We may mention here a characteristic of Mr. Goodyear’s inventive genius. He considers failures as stepping-stones to success. He tells one of the many well selected aids by whom he is surrounded, to do such and such a thing. The mechanician returns after giving his earnest attention to the task, with a something so clumsy or so ridiculous that it either raises the fear of censure or the dread of laughter as the reward of his pains; but neither laughter or censure await him. The result is just what its originator expected; the practical application confirms his views. A dozen failures, perhaps fifty, perhaps two hundred, wait upon these efforts, but with this valuable difference, that each failure approaches, directly or indirectly, the something that the mind desired to arrive at. Thus, each thing is, as it were, hemmed in; it is check-mated by these far-seeing moves, and science, the antagonist in this noble game, renders up the coveted object of an intellectual struggle. In a word, it is a practical exercise of inductive philosophy, or the algebra of mechanics getting at positive and useful facts by means mysterious and unintelligible to ordinary comprehensions.