Automatic Age

T he
10
A
u t o m a t ic
duced in the southern states o f Mexi­
co, particularly Yucatan. The gum
as shipped from Mexico contains
about 50 per cent of water. On ar­
rival in New York it contains around
40 per cent water. The latex, when
fresh, resembles cow’s milk, but when
coalesced by boiling, it assumes a
grayish hue, though the color may
vary owing to the admixture of im­
purities. The latex is sometimes
adulterated with the milk of other
trees. In Mexico, the best chicle is
said to be produced by trees grown
in the higher altitudes. The tree yield­
ing chicle grows to a height o f from
40 to 50 feet, with trunk from 35 to
40 inches in diameter. Each tree
yields, on an average, 30 to 35 pounds
o f chicle per year. The trees are
tapped throughout the year with the
exception of the rainy period, which
lasts from three to four months. The
tree requires a good loamy soil and a
rainfall of about 90 inches.
Appearance
Crude chicle is quite hard, brittle
and easily reduced to fragments. It
varies according to purity, from a
light to a dark brown color and melts
very readily with heat, being easily
softened when held in the mouth.
When warm it is very ductile and ad­
hesive without perceptible odor or
taste, and is entirely free from any
injurious qualities.
Analysis of Crude Yucatan Chicle2
Per
Acetone soluble resins-----------
Gutta and hydrocarbons---------
P r o te in s -------------------------------
Sand and foreign matter-------
W a t e r ______________________
Mineral a s h --------------------------
Cent
40.0
17.4
0.6
2.3
35.0
4.7
2Dr. Frederic Dannerth, Journal of
Industrial and Engineering Chemis­
try, 1917, page 679.
Chicle Substitutes
A number of gums are regularly
cleaned and blended as substitutes
© International Arcade Museum
A
ge
for chicle and are largely used. The
ingredients of these substitutes are
the low-grade rubber from Borneo
known as Pontianak or jelutong and
the inferior guttas, among them be­
ing gutta siak, gutta kay, etc.; also
the Pontianak resin extracted from
jelutong as well as waxes, resins and
balsams of various sorts. Several
chicle substitutes have been patented
and others pass under special trade
names.
The aggregate tonnage of these
compounded gums annually employed
in the manufacture of chewing gum,
approximately equals or perhaps ex­
ceeds that of the pure chicle used.
Comparatively little chewing gum is
made o f a strictly chicle base and
much is made containing no chicle
whatever.
Methods of Making Chicle
Substitutes
There are various processes and
machines for the purification of gut­
tas, resins and low-grade rubber for
use as substitutes for chicle and for
chewing gum manufacture, some of
which have been patented.
Cleaning Crude Pontianak
James D. Darling, of Philadelphia,
patented the following methods:
Comminuted crude Pontianak, or
jelutong, is boiled in a receptacle for
a considerable time in an alkaline
solution consisting of 25 pounds of
caustic soda to 100 gallons of water.
The boiling is continued until all the
impurities are precipitated, while the
mixture of rubber and resin, purified
and changed in physical characteris­
tics, floats as a spongy mass. When
freed from the alkaline liquor this
mass is odorless and tasteless, but
still somewhat tough and resilient.
This product is removed and after
repeated washings is subjected to a
pulling or kneading operation by
which its physical qualities are fur­
ther changed.
During this treatment the mate-
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