﻿368 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1943 
  

  

  sources 
  lapsed 
  when 
  the 
  planting 
  project 
  came 
  through 
  at 
  the 
  begin- 
  

   ning 
  of 
  this 
  century, 
  and 
  now 
  is 
  largely 
  forgotten. 
  From 
  Goodyear 
  

   to 
  plantation 
  rubber 
  was 
  only 
  50 
  years, 
  and 
  50 
  more 
  to 
  the 
  present 
  

   time. 
  

  

  The 
  rapid 
  advance 
  of 
  industrial 
  civilization 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  

   during 
  this 
  short 
  period 
  is 
  viewed 
  with 
  complacency 
  as 
  the 
  "Rubber 
  

   Age," 
  usually 
  without 
  reflecting 
  that 
  in 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  other 
  countries 
  the 
  

   utilization 
  of 
  rubber 
  is 
  only 
  at 
  the 
  stage 
  of 
  beginning. 
  The 
  eventual 
  

   need 
  of 
  rubber 
  must 
  be, 
  in 
  many 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  world, 
  hundreds 
  or 
  

   thousands 
  of 
  times 
  the 
  merely 
  "token" 
  requirements 
  as 
  yet 
  recognized. 
  

   Not 
  only 
  the 
  populous 
  countries 
  need 
  rubber, 
  but 
  the 
  waste 
  places 
  have 
  

   even 
  greater 
  needs, 
  the 
  vast 
  areas 
  of 
  denuded 
  lands, 
  scarcely 
  populated 
  

   now, 
  but 
  to 
  be 
  made 
  accessible 
  and 
  habitable 
  by 
  means 
  of 
  rubber. 
  

   Every 
  nation 
  will 
  need 
  rubber. 
  Developing 
  adequate 
  supplies 
  of 
  

   rubber 
  is 
  a 
  basic 
  provision 
  for 
  the 
  general 
  advance 
  in 
  human 
  welfare 
  

   that 
  now 
  is 
  contemplated. 
  

  

  Eubber 
  has 
  come 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  normal 
  need 
  of 
  civilized 
  people, 
  hardly 
  less 
  

   than 
  food, 
  clothing, 
  and 
  shelter. 
  The 
  power 
  of 
  motion 
  is 
  an 
  enlarge- 
  

   ment 
  of 
  our 
  lives 
  that 
  we 
  purchase 
  at 
  any 
  price. 
  The 
  wider 
  attain- 
  

   ments 
  and 
  satisfactions 
  of 
  this 
  rubber-brought 
  freedom 
  still 
  are 
  beyond 
  

   the 
  range 
  of 
  constructive 
  imagination, 
  but 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  thought 
  of 
  turn- 
  

   ing 
  back 
  to 
  our 
  previous 
  immobile 
  state. 
  We 
  have 
  tried 
  our 
  new 
  legs 
  

   and 
  wings, 
  but 
  have 
  scarcely 
  learned 
  to 
  use 
  them. 
  Even 
  with 
  us 
  the 
  

   Rubber 
  Age 
  lies 
  mostly 
  in 
  the 
  future. 
  The 
  futility 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  world 
  

   depending 
  on 
  the 
  production 
  of 
  a 
  single 
  rubber 
  tree 
  in 
  a 
  single 
  region 
  

   is 
  amply 
  demonstrated 
  in 
  the 
  present 
  emergency. 
  The 
  production 
  of 
  

   Para 
  rubber 
  is 
  being 
  decentralized 
  as 
  rapidly 
  as 
  possible, 
  and 
  many 
  

   other 
  trees, 
  shrubs, 
  and 
  herbaceous 
  rubber-bearing 
  plants 
  are 
  being 
  

   studied, 
  with 
  special 
  attention 
  to 
  those 
  that 
  can 
  live 
  outside 
  the 
  

   Tropics. 
  The 
  hardy 
  Eucommia 
  tree 
  from 
  China, 
  if 
  it 
  produced 
  rubber 
  

   instead 
  of 
  gutta-percha, 
  undoubtedly 
  would 
  be 
  hailed 
  as 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  

   most 
  valuable 
  introductions. 
  The 
  rubber 
  crops 
  of 
  different 
  countries 
  

   eventually 
  may 
  be 
  as 
  diversified 
  as 
  the 
  sugar 
  crops 
  or 
  the 
  starch 
  crops, 
  

   after 
  the 
  cultural 
  qualifications 
  of 
  the 
  various 
  rubber 
  bearers 
  have 
  been 
  

   determined. 
  Only 
  a 
  beginning 
  could 
  be 
  made 
  in 
  this 
  scientific 
  project 
  

   with 
  the 
  intermittent 
  interest 
  and 
  support 
  that 
  could 
  be 
  obtained 
  while 
  

   it 
  appeared 
  that 
  ample 
  supplies 
  of 
  rubber 
  were 
  assured 
  from 
  the 
  plan- 
  

   tations 
  in 
  Malaya. 
  

  

  A 
  NEW 
  REALM 
  OF 
  HUMAN 
  ATTAINMENT 
  

  

  From 
  a 
  scientific 
  viewpoint 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  human 
  progress 
  is 
  entering 
  

   a 
  new 
  realm 
  in 
  adopting 
  and 
  developing 
  the 
  uses 
  of 
  rubber. 
  Pro- 
  

   found 
  changes 
  are 
  involved, 
  comparable 
  to 
  those 
  encountered 
  by 
  our 
  

   primitive 
  predecessors 
  in 
  adopting 
  fire, 
  contriving 
  tools, 
  weapons, 
  

  

  