Abstract
As a result of the War, imports of cork have almost, if not entirely, ceased in various parts of the world. Consequently, ingenuity has had to be exercised in providing substitutes. For obvious reasons stoppers for bottles were one of the earliest articles for which replacement was required. One of the countries effected was India, where the imports of cork from Europe very soon ceased, and the need for a substitute material for use as stoppers in different types of bottles, and as liners for bottle crowns and so forth, became keenly felt. The Forest Research Institute at Dehra Dun took up the matter, as explained in a Leaflet No. 6, Utilisation (“Note on Some Experiments on Cork Substitutes” by Dr. N. Narayanamurti, J. N. Pande and D. C. Roy (Research Institute, Dehra Dun, 1941). Experiments were conducted on the production of corks made of wood, composition corks made of disintegrated tree barks and pith corks for hypodermic tabloid tubes. So far, experiments have shown the following suitable substitutes. Bottle stoppers: stoppers of Cryptomcria japonica wood suitably slotted and softened by chemical treatment ; crown cork liners: composite cork made from Erythrina suberosa bark and bagasse fibre have been found suitable ; corks for tabloid tubes: paraffin-impregnated sola pith is suitable. The methods of manufacture of these substitutes are described.
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Cork Substitutes. Nature 150, 230 (1942). https://doi.org/10.1038/150230a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/150230a0