﻿NATURAL 
  RUBBER 
  — 
  COOK 
  371 
  

  

  colonies. 
  Further 
  planting 
  of 
  Para 
  rubber 
  as 
  a 
  regular 
  crop 
  was 
  

   no 
  longer 
  considered 
  advisable 
  on 
  the 
  basis 
  of 
  careful 
  studies 
  by 
  

   agricultural 
  specialists. 
  For 
  Java 
  it 
  appeared 
  that 
  Ficus 
  elastica 
  

   was 
  more 
  promising, 
  and 
  even 
  on 
  the 
  general 
  question 
  of 
  rubber 
  

   plantations 
  the 
  Dutch 
  investigators 
  were 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  reached 
  an 
  

   adverse 
  conclusion, 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  small 
  prospect 
  of 
  meeting 
  the 
  

   expense 
  of 
  competent 
  and 
  honest 
  administration 
  of 
  the 
  estates. 
  

  

  THE 
  FIRST 
  EUROPEAN 
  TO 
  APPRECIATE 
  RUBBER 
  

  

  The 
  statements 
  of 
  many 
  books 
  that 
  rubber 
  was 
  "discovered" 
  by 
  

   La 
  Condamine 
  in 
  1736, 
  are 
  misleading, 
  since 
  rubber 
  undoubtedly 
  

   had 
  been 
  known 
  and 
  used 
  by 
  native 
  peoples 
  over 
  most 
  of 
  tropical 
  

   America 
  through 
  many 
  generations. 
  Many 
  travelers 
  and 
  explorers 
  

   had 
  visited 
  America 
  before 
  La 
  Condamine, 
  and 
  several 
  had 
  reported 
  

   the 
  existence 
  of 
  rubber, 
  but 
  none 
  had 
  considered 
  rubber 
  as 
  more 
  than 
  

   a 
  curiosity, 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  many 
  marvels 
  of 
  the 
  New 
  World, 
  but 
  with 
  no 
  

   impression 
  of 
  practical 
  value. 
  La 
  Condamine 
  was 
  the 
  first 
  European 
  

   to 
  become 
  constructively 
  interested 
  in 
  rubber 
  — 
  the 
  first 
  to 
  see 
  that 
  

   this 
  tough, 
  elastic 
  substance 
  might 
  become 
  valuable 
  material 
  in 
  France 
  

   and 
  other 
  civilized 
  countries. 
  

  

  Alexander 
  von 
  Humboldt 
  and 
  many 
  other 
  European 
  travelers 
  

   visited 
  tropical 
  America 
  before 
  and 
  after 
  La 
  Condamine 
  without 
  

   receiving, 
  or 
  at 
  least 
  without 
  reporting, 
  any 
  such 
  impression 
  of 
  the 
  

   potential 
  importance 
  of 
  rubber. 
  Thousands 
  of 
  Europeans 
  — 
  soldiers, 
  

   sailors, 
  missionaries, 
  travelers, 
  and 
  settlers 
  in 
  America 
  — 
  had 
  seen 
  and 
  

   handled 
  rubber, 
  as 
  shown 
  by 
  casual 
  references 
  in 
  several 
  early 
  books 
  

   on 
  America. 
  Many 
  incidental 
  uses 
  were 
  noted 
  by 
  Sahagun, 
  who 
  

   reached 
  Mexico 
  in 
  1528, 
  and 
  by 
  Hernandez, 
  who 
  came 
  in 
  1570. 
  Saha- 
  

   gun 
  also 
  described 
  many 
  religious 
  ceremonies 
  among 
  the 
  Aztecs 
  in 
  

   which 
  Castilla 
  rubber, 
  or 
  ulli, 
  was 
  used 
  with 
  copal 
  as 
  a 
  burnt 
  offering, 
  

   or 
  made 
  into 
  sacred 
  images 
  of 
  the 
  gods. 
  The 
  resemblance 
  of 
  rubber 
  

   to 
  a 
  living 
  animal 
  or 
  to 
  human 
  tissues 
  may 
  be 
  reflected 
  in 
  some 
  of 
  

   the 
  native 
  names. 
  The 
  Aztec 
  name, 
  ule, 
  was 
  adopted 
  into 
  Spanish 
  

   in 
  North 
  America; 
  in 
  South 
  America 
  another 
  native 
  name, 
  caucho, 
  

   rendered 
  in 
  French 
  as 
  caoutchouc. 
  Many 
  languages 
  of 
  Central 
  and 
  

   South 
  America 
  have 
  distinctive 
  names 
  for 
  rubber 
  or 
  for 
  the 
  rubber 
  

   tree. 
  

  

  La 
  Condamine 
  was 
  not 
  a 
  botanist 
  or 
  even 
  a 
  naturalist, 
  but 
  is 
  usually 
  

   described 
  as 
  an 
  astronomer 
  or 
  mathematician, 
  and 
  also 
  as 
  a 
  geographer 
  

   or 
  engineer. 
  His 
  errand 
  in 
  South 
  America 
  was 
  to 
  determine 
  more 
  

   definitely 
  the 
  figure 
  of 
  the 
  earth 
  by 
  making 
  astronomical 
  measure- 
  

   ments 
  of 
  sections 
  of 
  the 
  meridian 
  of 
  Quito, 
  close 
  to 
  the 
  Equator. 
  The 
  

   expedition 
  was 
  sponsored 
  by 
  the 
  Academy 
  of 
  Sciences 
  of 
  Paris, 
  under 
  

   the 
  auspices 
  of 
  the 
  King 
  of 
  France, 
  Louis 
  XV. 
  Since 
  the 
  astronomical 
  

  

  