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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[April 1, 1914. 



Dr. Jacques Huberts Busy and Useful Life. 



TM ['. March issue of The India Rubber World contaiiutl a 

 nifiition of the sudden death of Dr. Jacques Huhcr. 

 director of the Museu Gocldi, of Para, which occurred 

 in that city on February 18. Editorial mention was ahso made 

 in the same issue of his great services to the rubber industry of 

 Brazil, his many contributions to the hterature of rubl)cr botany 

 and of the great sense of loss which will he felt not onl\ in 

 the .Amazon country but everywhere where men are interested 

 in the development of rubber production. It was not pos- 

 sible at that time to give as complete a story of his life as its 

 exce|>tional usefulness demanded. Here is a more detailed ac- 

 count which will be of interest to his many friends. 



Ur. Jacques Huber was born on October 13, 1867, at Schleit- 

 heim. Canton of Schaffhauscn, Switzerland, being the son of 

 the Rev. Emanuel Huber. In the year 1870 his parents re- 

 moved to the city of Schaffhauscn. wliere he attended school 

 until his graduation in 1887. He then studied natural his- 

 tory at Basle, passing the teachers' examination in 1890. 

 In the autumn of the same year he went to Montpellier 

 (I'Vance), where he devoted himself wholly to the study of 

 botany, under the guidance of Professor Flahault, with wliom 

 he maintained intimate relations up to the end of his life. Dr. 

 Huber remained in Montpellier until .August. 1893, meanwhile 

 visiting Basle in the autumn of 1892, where he gained the title 

 of doctor (with distinction). From Montpellier he went, in 

 1894, to Geneva, becoming assistant at the Herbier-Boissier 

 Botanical Museum. 



Early in the year 1895 he received, through Professor E. .\. 

 Goeldi, a call— which he accepted — from the newly reorganized 

 Para "State Museum of Natural Science and Ethnography" 

 (now "Museu Gocldi"). In the following July he arrived at 

 Para and assumed the post of Director of the Botanical Section 

 of the Museum. His first work was the laying out of the 

 botanical garden, which, under his care and direction, was de- 

 veloped into one of the most attractive sights of the city. More- 

 over, during the earlier period of his work in Para he under- 

 took numerous scientific journeys to different parts of Amazonia 

 and northern Brazil. A number of his trips of exploration were 

 taken in the company of Dr. E. A. Goeldi. In others he was 

 accompanied by other prominent Brazilian naturalists. From 

 the year 1895 to 1905 he found time for one or more of these 

 interesting and important excursions every year. During this 

 time he visited the "Contestado," the Franco-Belgian frontier 

 subsequently awarded to Brazil. He also visited the rivers 

 Capim, (iuama. Arama, Purus and lower Acre. These are but 

 a few of the many parts of Brazil which he explored on these 

 occasions. 



In these journeys Dr. Huber, in addition to his botanical and 

 botanico-geographical studies, devoted much attention to hydro- 

 graphic questions, on which he wrote a number of articles. 

 .\mong his contribution;, to various Brazilian and European pub- 

 lications liased on his observations in his dilTerent travels are 

 the following : "\'egetation of Cape Magoary and the -Atlantic 

 Coast of the Island of Marajo," "Contribution to the Pliysical 

 Geography of the Western Part of Marajo," "\'egetation of the 

 Valley of the River Purus." 



One of the most important works of Dr. Huber during the 

 years 1895-1905 was the "Arboretum .Amazonicum," the pictures 

 in which were almost exclusively prepared from photographs 

 taken by the author. Unfortunately, lack of time and money 

 prevented the issue of more than four volumes out of the ten 

 which had been contemplated. Other important contributions 

 by him include "Elements of .Amazonian Flora." as well as 

 •"'Ceara Plants." The "Herbier-Boissier Bulletin" contained some 



of his articles upon Ucvca and other rubber plants, to which he 

 subsequently devoted so much time. 



.At the end of March, 1907, upon the return to Europe of Dr, 

 E. .A. Goeldi, Dr. Huber was appointed Director of the Goeldi 

 Museum. The lime and energy required for his administrative 

 duties forced him to give up his scientific journeys — a fact which 

 he regretted all the more as the Para government made more 

 and more frequent calls upon his knowledge and experience as 

 to rubber cultivation. Some brief excursions in 1507 and 1909 

 ( particularly those to the new agricultural experimental station 

 at Peixe-Boi, on the Bragani;a line) afforded him relaxation 

 and increased his store of knowledge. 



-X'otwithstanding the burden of his ofiicial duties, he found 

 lime for important botanical work, such as the continuation of 

 the "Elements of .Amazonian Flora"; while the rich botanical 

 collections wliicli Sefihor F. .A. Ducke, the entomological expert 

 of the museum, brought back from his numerous journeys, 

 furnished sulijects for various treatise.s — as "Plantae Duckeanae" 

 and other compilations. 



The chief work of his later days was "Amazonian Woods and 

 Shrubs," the first part of which summarized the information 

 gathered during his explorations as to the distribution of 

 .\mazonian flora. 



In the spring of 1911 Dr. Huber went to Europe to take part 

 in the London Rubber Exhibition as well as the Turin Inter- 

 national Exhibition, as representative of the State of Para. Im- 

 mediately afterwards, and likewise acting on behalf of the State 

 of Para, he commenced a journey to the East, for the purpose 

 of studying the rubber plantation industry in Cejdon, Malacca 

 and Dutch India. Early in the summer of 1912, after more than 

 a year's absence, he returned to Para. During the return voyage 

 he had found time to elaborate his comprehensive and important 

 report on "The Present State of the Cultivation of Hevea Bra- 

 siliciisis in the Cliief Rubber Producing Countries of the East," 

 which was published by order of the Governor of Para. In 

 September, 1912. by instructions of the government, he under- 

 took another journey, to attend the Xew A"ork Rubber 

 Exhibition. 



These extensive travels and the labor they involved finally 

 told upon his health, a matter to which he was disposed to give 

 but scant attention. In October last he was seized with intes- 

 tinal inflammation, and while the first attack passed, a relapse 

 took place in January the gravity of which was apparent to his 

 friends, .^.s a last resort he was oper-'ted on for appendicitis — 

 but unsuccessfully, passing away on February 18 last. It was 

 undoubtedly Dr. Huber's devotion to his work that cut his life 

 short at the comparatively early age of 47. 



( )wing to the esteem in which the late Dr. Huber was held 

 in his adopted city great regret was expressed at his death by 

 the chief officials, from the Governor downwards ; and the state 

 accorded him the exceptional honor of defraying the funeral 

 expenses. The coffin was borne to llie hearse by Dr. Carlos 

 Silva. representing Dr. Eneas Martins, the Governor (absent 

 through indisposition), and by the secretaries of State then in 

 Para. Other prominent personages attending the funeral in^ 

 eluded Dr. Dionysio Bentes, Mayor of Belem ; Dr. Diodoro 

 Mendonga and Lieutenant Heraclito Gurjas, cabinet officials: 

 Colonel Calheiros de Lima, Dr. Martins Pinheiro, Dr. Raymundo 

 Vianna, Senhor Franz Berringer. Senhor .Adolpho Ducke, Dr. 

 O. Labroy, and many others. 



When the sad news of his death reached the headquarters of 

 the Para Commercial .Association the building was immediately 

 closed by order of the president. The members selected to 

 attend the funeral on behalf of the associatiim were: Senhores 



