120 CAOUTCHOUC. 



After all, the superiority of the Hevea caoutchouc may be owing in a 

 great measure to the fact that the extraction and preparation of it is 

 better conducted and organized than that of other kinds ; and if we 

 should have to resort to cultivation, perhaps it may turn out to be more 

 profitable to grow other Caoutchouc species rather than those of the 

 genus Hevea. The chairman (Dr. Seemann), in opening the discussion 

 of the paper, held that the cultivation of these trees might prove re- 

 munerative, the price of some kinds of india-rubber having nearly 

 doubled since 1861 ; and since the trees grew with rapidity, the tap- 

 ping of them for milk could, under regular treatment, be resorted to 

 every two or three years without destroying their vitality ; indeed, a 

 plantation once established would last for years, and require but little 

 care. One thing which rendered Caoutchouc expensive was, that the 

 trees yielding it did not form forests exclusively by themselves as our 

 Beeches, Pines, and Oaks do, but they were scattered in isolated 

 groups, or as individuals amongst other kinds of trees, and much time 

 was necessarily lost by collectors in looking for them, and in removing 

 their camp and workshops from place to place. All this would be in 

 favour of a plantation ; but, although it might be cheaper to cultivate 

 caoutchouc than to gather it in the depths of the virgin forests. Dr. 

 Seemann remarked that he had no fear, even with the advancing prices 

 staring him in the face, that there would be a deficiency of supply for 

 some years to come. From the southern parts of Mexico to the lower 

 parts of Brazil, America might be termed a huge virgin forest, through 

 which there was only one regular thoroughfare — the Panama Railroad. 

 The whole of this enormous territory, only partially explored as yet 

 along the course of rivers, abounded in India-rubber .trees, belonging 

 to several genera ; and every newly made road brought to light fresh 

 supplies. Asia, Africa, and even Australia, would also be able to meet 

 part of the enormous and daily increasing demand, and there were many 

 milk-yielding plants throughout tropical and subtropical regions to 

 which we might look for help : the genus Ficus alone consisting of 

 several hundred species. 



It appears to us to be simply a matter of prudence to look forward 

 to the time when iudia-rubber will be all but extinct in countries easily 

 accessible, either by their proximity to the coast or through their 

 river systems ; and it is now considered a truism that all plants which 

 man largely requires either for food or nuuiufaeturing purposes must 



