iS Some Accotmi of the EliiJIk-(jum Vine, 



gooAy upwards of one year; for, notwithftanding the fef- 

 mentat'ion foon tak<js pkce, the deconipofuion in confe- 

 quence is only partial, and what remains fluid Hill retains 

 its original properlie'^, although confiderably diminiflied. 



Not having feen M. Fourcroy's memoir on Caoui-chouCf 

 I could not make trials of the methods propofed by him for 

 preferving the milk unaltered. 



In making boots, gloves, and bottles, of the claftic gum, 

 I found the following method the bed : — I firft made moulds 

 of wax, as nearly of the fize and Ihape of what they repre- 

 fented as poffible ; thefe I hung feparately upori pins, about 

 a foot from the ground, by pieces of cord wrought into the 

 wax : I then placed under each a foup-plate, into which I 

 poured as much, of the milk as I thought would be fufficient 

 for one coat. Having dipped my fuigcrs in this, I completely 

 covered the moukk one after another, and what dropped int6 

 the plates was ufed as part of the next coat : the firll: I 

 generally found fufficiently dry in the fpace of ten minutes, 

 when expofed to the fun, to admit of a fecond being applied : 

 however, after every fecond coal, the oily matter betore men- 

 tioned was in fuch quantity upon the furfaee, that, until 

 wafhed off with foap and water, I found it impofllble to ap- 

 ply any more milk with effefi: ; for, if laid on, it kept .run- 

 ning and dividing like water upon wax. 



Thirty coats I in common found fafficicBt to give a cover- 

 ing of the thicknefs of the bottles which come from America. 

 This circumftance may, liowever, at any time be afcertalned 

 by introducing the finger between the mould and gum, the 

 one very readily fcpar'ating from the other. 



I found the fingers preferable to abrufli, or any inftrument 

 whatever, for laying on the milk; for, the moment a brufli 

 was wet with that fluid, the hair became united as one niafs. 

 A mode which at firft view would appear to have the advan- 

 tage of all others for eafe and expedition in covering clay and 

 wax moulds wi<h the gum, I'iz. immerfuig them in the milk, 

 did not at all anfwcr upon trial ; that fluid running almoft 

 entirely off, although none of the oily matter was prefent j 

 a certain degree of force feeming ncccflary to incorporate, 

 by friction, the milk with the new- formed gum. 



When, 



