PROTECTION OF IRON FROM SEA WATER.
Really practically valuable discoveries are sometimes long in being adopted (says the "Australian Shipping News"). Several years ago it was discovered by one of the officers engaged in surveying Natal that certain spurges or euphorbiaceous plants when cut so coated their knives that they were not afterwards affected by rust. The officers were led to suggest that the gum of the plant might eventually prove a valuable article of commerce as a preservative for iron or other metal work exposed to the action of air and water. The plants grow in Natal in abundance, and they found no difficulty in collecting a sufficient quantity of gum for practical experiment. To this end the gum was dissolved in spirit, which was found to i* the mostready means of applying it. At tho Cape it was successfully tried for coating ships r bottoms, but for several years nothing has been heard of it. Recently, however, some enterprising men have introduced the gum into England, and have tested it with marked success. There is, therefore, every probability that a new and important trade industry will be developed in the English South African colonies.
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Bibliographic details
Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 1868, 18 February 1880, Page 3
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196PROTECTION OF IRON FROM SEA WATER. Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 1868, 18 February 1880, Page 3
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