Consul F. W. Mahin reports from Nottingham that according to a current newspaper item an inventor named Carr, in Middlesex, proposes to make artificial rubber from cereals-wheat, corn, etc.-for use as bicycle and automobile tires, and also as golf balls.

It is explained that the artificial rubber is obtained by treating any cereal with phyalin. It is reported that a syndicate of capitalists, interested in tire manufacturing, has offered Mr. Carr over $1,000,000 for his patent rights. The inventor's response is not stated. Mr. Carr, it is announced, proposes to make six grades of artificial rubber from a liquid solution suitable for waterproofing to a hardness available for golf balls. In the latter the substance is credited with the lightness of cork and the toughness of chilled steel. The intermediate grades are expected to be serviceable for tires, tubes, linoleum, and slabs or sheets for pavements.