Introduction

Archaeological excavations reveal that the American Indians knew about latex, i.e. natural rubber, as early as in the sixth century, but written records only date back to 1495 in connection with the discovery voyages of Columbus (Horváth in Gumiipari kézikönyv. Taurus-OMIKK, Budapest, pp 19–24, 1988). In Europe, natural rubber was introduced in 1745 as a result of the travels made by the French naturalist de la Condamine, but significant developments occurred in England in 1819, when T. Hancock discovered the masticability of rubber (cracking to facilitate processing), and constructed a mixing apparatus that can be considered the predecessor to today’s closed drum mixers and roll mills. In 1826, Faraday defined the chemical composition of latex which constituted the scientific basis for any subsequent research.