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  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1943 
  

  

  tropical 
  countries. 
  Only 
  a 
  few 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  that 
  are 
  known 
  to 
  con- 
  

   tain 
  rubber 
  have 
  as 
  yet 
  been 
  accessible 
  to 
  comparative 
  study, 
  but 
  even 
  

   these 
  preliminary 
  surveys 
  have 
  opened 
  new 
  chapters 
  in 
  botany. 
  That 
  

   many 
  unknown 
  and 
  unexpected 
  features 
  should 
  be 
  found 
  among 
  the 
  

   rubber-bearing 
  plants 
  need 
  not 
  be 
  taken 
  to 
  mean 
  that 
  such 
  plants 
  as 
  a 
  

   class 
  are 
  peculiar, 
  but 
  only 
  that 
  our 
  knowledge 
  of 
  and 
  interest 
  in 
  the 
  

   plant 
  world 
  still 
  are 
  strangely 
  limited. 
  

  

  RUBBER 
  DISCOVERIES 
  ACCIDENTAL 
  

  

  Many 
  writers 
  have 
  stressed 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  Goodyear's 
  discovery 
  was 
  

   made 
  accidentally, 
  and 
  this 
  is 
  true, 
  to 
  an 
  even 
  greater 
  extent, 
  of 
  other 
  

   contributions 
  not 
  less 
  significant 
  than 
  Goodyear's 
  to 
  the 
  development 
  

   of 
  the 
  rubber 
  industry. 
  Goodyear's 
  contribution 
  is 
  in 
  no 
  way 
  dimin- 
  

   ished 
  by 
  recognizing 
  that 
  the 
  services 
  of 
  other 
  men 
  were 
  likewise 
  

   indispensable. 
  Wickham's 
  exploit 
  of 
  1876 
  in 
  sending 
  rubber 
  seeds 
  

   from 
  Brazil 
  to 
  England 
  for 
  planting 
  in 
  India 
  is 
  frequently 
  recounted, 
  

   but 
  two 
  other 
  names 
  should 
  be 
  as 
  widely 
  recognized 
  : 
  La 
  Condamine, 
  

   who 
  was 
  concerned 
  with 
  rubber 
  a 
  century 
  before 
  Goodyear, 
  and 
  Rid- 
  

   ley, 
  who 
  came 
  half 
  a 
  century 
  after 
  Goodyear. 
  

  

  Wickham's 
  exportation 
  of 
  rubber 
  seeds 
  from 
  Brazil 
  and 
  Ridley's 
  

   discovery 
  of 
  a 
  tapping 
  method 
  at 
  Singapore 
  were 
  both 
  voluntary 
  

   contributions 
  due 
  solely 
  to 
  the 
  interest 
  and 
  initiative 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  men 
  

   involved. 
  Neither 
  had 
  gone 
  to 
  the 
  Tropics 
  to 
  study 
  rubber, 
  and 
  the 
  

   services 
  that 
  they 
  rendered 
  had 
  not 
  been 
  planned 
  or 
  expected. 
  Cross 
  

   was 
  being 
  sent 
  to 
  Brazil 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  that 
  Wickham 
  was 
  obtaining 
  his 
  

   shipment 
  of 
  70,000 
  seeds 
  by 
  persuading 
  the 
  captain 
  of 
  a 
  tramp 
  

   steamer 
  to 
  take 
  a 
  chance 
  of 
  being 
  rewarded. 
  Previous 
  seed 
  shipments 
  

   had 
  failed, 
  and 
  that 
  method 
  of 
  introduction 
  was 
  being 
  abandoned. 
  

   Cross, 
  a 
  few 
  months 
  later, 
  took 
  home 
  a 
  thousand 
  young 
  seedling 
  

   plants, 
  but 
  only 
  a 
  few 
  survived. 
  Without 
  Wickham's 
  seeds 
  the 
  ex- 
  

   periments 
  of 
  that 
  period 
  could 
  not 
  have 
  reached 
  a 
  practical 
  scale. 
  

  

  Ridley's 
  solution 
  of 
  the 
  tapping 
  problem 
  also 
  came, 
  so 
  to 
  speak, 
  from 
  

   the 
  side 
  lines. 
  Specialists 
  in 
  plant 
  physiology 
  had 
  been 
  sent 
  to 
  Ceylon 
  

   and 
  a 
  station 
  established 
  for 
  experiments 
  with 
  rubber 
  trees, 
  but 
  under 
  

   a 
  policy 
  of 
  tapping 
  the 
  trees 
  by 
  methods 
  carried 
  over 
  from 
  Brazil, 
  

   such 
  discouraging 
  results 
  were 
  obtained 
  that 
  Ridley 
  had 
  difficulty 
  in 
  

   getting 
  his 
  facts 
  considered. 
  Without 
  the 
  spontaneous 
  interest 
  of 
  

   these 
  two 
  men, 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  rubber 
  culture 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  com- 
  

   pletely 
  different. 
  

  

  Even 
  with 
  these 
  contributions, 
  the 
  outlook 
  for 
  rubber 
  planting 
  

   remained 
  doubtful 
  until 
  actual 
  production 
  was 
  demonstrated. 
  As 
  

   late 
  as 
  1900 
  unfavorable 
  opinions 
  of 
  Para 
  rubber 
  were 
  reported 
  in 
  

   Java, 
  where 
  experimental 
  studies 
  of 
  this 
  and 
  other 
  rubber 
  plants 
  

   were 
  supposed 
  to 
  have 
  received 
  more 
  attention 
  than 
  in 
  the 
  British 
  

  

  