DIFFERENT KINDS OF WILD RUBBER 39 



numerous ways. Sometimes it is allowed to flow to 

 the ground, sometimes it is caught in pots or cala- 

 bashes, which are hung by a handle on to the stem of 

 the vine, at the spots where the cuts are made. It 

 may be left to coagulate by itself, or the change may 

 be brought about by the assistance of heat, or of some 

 plant-juice, which is known to produce the desired effect. 

 Sometimes a native smears the milk over his body, and 

 peels off the skin of rubber into which it is changed 

 by his own warmth. 



Some of the Landolphias have underground stems, 

 or "rhizomes," which, when pounded, yield "root 

 rubber." 



Landolphia rubber is sent to market in many forms, 

 of various shapes and sizes. Balls, lumps, biscuits, 

 morsels called " thimbles," strips, and twists are some 

 of the commonest forms in which it is exported. 



Africa is an important centre of wild rubber supplies 

 from the point of view of the quantity of the material 

 available in the forests. But the quality of African 

 rubber is much inferior to that of Para, the rubber 

 that sets the standard by which all other varieties 

 must expect to be judged. The inferiority of African 

 rubber is partly due to the milk from which it is made, 

 but is largely the result of the way in which the milk 

 is collected and coagulated. The work is aU done 

 by natives, men and women, whose one idea is to get 

 as much rubber as possible in the easiest way. They 

 are not at all careful to keep the milk free from dirt 

 and impurities, and there is no science in their method 

 of coagulating it. However, England, France and 

 Belgium, who between them own the rubber-producing 

 colonies of Africa, are hoping to improve the quality 



