The unfortunate result of the “experiment” was so dearly purchased, that all who were engaged in the traffic, abandoned it without an attempt to profit by experience. It is at this point that we introduce Mr. Charles Goodyear, a man of observation, possessing a larger share of perseverance than is usually found in any single individual, together with fair inventive genius. He saw the sad results of that zeal which is without knowledge, and resolved to find if possible, the thread which should guide him safely through the labyrinth of this mystery. He undertook the task alone, as the severe reverses which had visited the pioneers in the movement, had disgusted them with further attempts to correct, what appeared to be insurmountable objections. Mr. Goodyear seemed to be impressed with the idea that nature never plays practical jokes, and that what had already been accomplished in the uses of rubber was simply an earnest of what might be realized. Acting upon this conjecture, we see him devoting himself to the elucidation of the mysterious problem. Two important points were to be gained. To those acquainted with the India-rubber or gum-elastic, it is well known that after it has been subjected to a certain tension for any considerable time, it loses its elasticity; also, that during hot weather it melts and becomes sticky or adhesive, and in cold weather becomes stiff and rigid, and correspondingly less pliable. These important, in fact, _fatal_ objections must be removed, or India-rubber would become comparatively valueless. Mr. Goodyear engaged in the work with all the enthusiasm of his nature, and notwithstanding he was without money, and the sympathy of friends, and was frequently the subject of privations, hardships, and imprisonments, still he labored on, as though a presentiment of the discovery of the long sought for secret was continually before him, encouraging him to work and he should finally triumph. His persistent efforts were finally successful. The admixture of sulphur with the gum at a heat of about 270°, was the “open sesame” to the treasures which he ultimately realized in the prosecution of his labors. The Commissioner of Patents of the United States, the Hon. Joseph Holt, in his late decision upon the “extension” of the Goodyear Patent, thus eloquently discourses concerning the early efforts of Mr. Goodyear, in the search of his ultimately wonderful discovery.