Concerning his prison experiences, of
which the first was not to be the last, he says that
"notwithstanding the mortification attending such a trial," if
the prisoner has a real aim "for which to live and hope over he
may add firmness to hope, and derive lasting advantage by having
proved to himself that, with a clear conscience and a high
purpose, a man may be as happy within prison walls as in any
other (even the most fortunate) circumstances in life." With this
spirit he met every reverse throughout the ten hard years that
followed.
Luckily, as he says, his first experiments required no expensive
equipment. Fingers were the best tools for working the gum. The
prison officials allowed him a bench and a marble slab, a friend
procured him a few dollars' worth of gum, which sold then at five
cents a pound, and his wife contributed her rolling pin. That was
the beginning.
For a time he believed that, by mixing the raw gum with magnesia
and boiling it in lime, he had overcome the stickiness which was
the inherent difficulty. He made some sheets of white rubber
which were exhibited, and also some articles for sale. His hopes
were dashed when he found that weak acid, such as apple juice or
vinegar, destroyed his new product. Then in 1836 he found that
the application of aqua fortis, or nitric acid, produced a
"curing" effect on the rubber and thought that he had discovered
the secret.
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