6 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[October i, 1904. 



KODUtH U4THEREBS IN CAMP. 



from vines only, and not from trees. Most of the Congo white 

 rubbers are coagulated by this method. The Lopori grades, so 

 well known among American manufacturers, are thus prepared, 

 and also the Bussira, Lulonga, Ikelemba, Maringa, and some 

 Mongala kinds. The official gardens at Eala (Equateur dist- 

 rict) supply seeds of the Bosanga plant, which is also known 

 by the natives as Bokako. 



There has again been much talk lately about the " Caout- 

 chouc des herbes," or root rubber, largely obtained from Lan- 

 dolphia Thollonii, and known to commerce as "thimbles." 

 I shall not dwell at length on the peculiar characteristics of 

 this plant, which has been described in The India Rubber 

 World [See May i, 1903 — page 261]. The natives of the 

 Kwango district, and also around Stanley Pool, where the /.««- 

 dolpkia Thollonii is so plentiful, tear up the roots, and, after 

 having cut them into pieces of about seven or eight inches, ex- 

 pose them under the sun, and afterwards plunge them into 

 water. The whole is then beaten with sticks to separate the 

 bark from the latex. After this operation has been repeated 



several times, 

 the mass still 

 containing 

 water and bark 

 is boiled. After 

 being dried it 

 is shaped into 

 large sheets, 

 about yi inch 

 thick and these 

 sheetsor cakes, 

 when dried still 

 morearecut in- 

 to small cubes, 

 which take the 

 name of "thim- 

 bles" on the 

 European and 

 American mar- 

 kets. These 

 thimbles con- 

 tain as a rule 

 about 30 to 50 

 per cent, of 

 bark. Many 



RUBBER MADE INTO CAKES AFTER BOILING. patented tOOls 



EQUATEUR RUBBER GATHERERS AT HOME. 



or apparatus are offered for the extraction of the latex from the 

 "Caoutchouc des herbes," but I am inclined to. think that the 

 native system is the best thus far put in operation. 



Thus far most of the Landolphiavxne latex o{ the district has 

 been cured with the Bosanga juice, but lately some experiments 

 have been undertaken in the Ikelemba region with a method sim- 

 ilar to that of curing the Hevea rubber in Ceylon, this being the 

 method previously referred to as having been introduced by 

 white men. This system, which might be called the straining, 

 pressing, and extra drying cure, has given rather good results, 

 but in my opinion, it is likely to be adopted in methodical 

 rubber plantations. 



In some parts of the Congo, especially in the Kasai region, 

 every piece of rubber is slightly smoked. Some tribes of the 

 same region used to coagulate the latex with human urine. 



In the way of curing rubber the native has certainly observed 

 many things. I shall not attempt to settle the question whether 

 he has himself discovered that smoke, on account of its anti- 

 septic properties (creosote), lends to prevent oxidation, or that 

 certain salts help the coagulation. It is quite true that their 

 methods are primitive, but it is most astonishing to observe 

 that with all his knowledge, his up-to-date tools, his use of 

 chemistry, the white man has failed to prepare such good rub- 

 ber here as the almost savage negroes ol Central Africa. I 

 have found this to be the case everywhere I have traveled in 



RUBBER DRYING IN THE AIR. 



