cial HNO3) to remove an excess of bronze from a sheet, and found it dissolved it. Later he examined the piece and found it "cured," as he called it. He does not appear to have known that his acid contained sulphuric acid (North American Review, vol. ci; Le Caoutchouc et la Gutta Percha, E. Chapel, p. 47). The cloth was of superior quality and stood heat sufficiently well for many purposes; so he was happy again. A patent was secured (183G) for his "acid-gas" process, and a partner (William Ballard) with large capital readily found. The fabrication of beautiful articles was begun in Bank Street and on Staten Island, whither he removed his family, and recognition was received from many quarters. Before taking out this patent he was so overcome by noxious vapors in his laboratory that he nearly lost his life. Fortune, however, turned again, and the firm was carried under by his partner's affairs in the panic of 1836-'37. This injured him greatly, being ascribed to want of merit in his goods. Reduced to poverty again, he pawned his umbrella to Mr. Vanderbilt to reach the city. Though in direst need, still he did not give up India rubber. The family was helped back to Staten Island, where he was allowed to print piano covers and ladies' aprons in colors and bronze, the sale of which was of some assistance. Their few teacups served both for table and experiments. Attempts to rally the courage of stockholders failed, owing partly to the general gloom prevailing. His persistent faith in gum elastic and his habit of wearing it, to test and advertise it, led to his becoming an object of ridicule, and he was regarded as a monomaniac. But he had the good fortune to find favor with J. Haskins, of the Roxbury Company, who invited him to Boston and proffered him aid.
Despairing of New York, Goodyear secures a loan, and with choice specimens arrives (toward the end of 1837, says E. Chapel) in Roxbury, Massachusetts, where so much had been made and lost in rubber. Former friends in hardware forward his designs as far as they are able. E. M. Chaffee, whose inventive genius had given the industry its initial movement, becomes specially interested, and advises perseverance. Chaffee, supposing, as had Goodyear, that the adhesiveness arose from the oil of turpentine employed, had invented heavy machinery for dissolving the gum without its use; but, as we have seen, the stickiness was inherent in the substance itself. So, old difficulties reappearing, the revival of trade had proved to be but temporary. Chaffee and Haskins secure assistance for Goodyear, and allow him to use the valuable idle machinery in their factory. Prosperity seems to smile again on the indefatigable experimenter. He invents a new process for making shoes and secures a patent, but sells it to meet immediate wants—a course he was often obliged to pursue, thus removing himself from lasting benefits. He also makes
