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  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1943 
  

  

  project 
  was 
  responsible 
  for 
  La 
  Condamine's 
  visiting 
  South 
  America 
  

   and 
  seeing 
  rubber 
  in 
  its 
  natural 
  state, 
  rubber 
  may 
  be 
  reckoned 
  his- 
  

   torically 
  as 
  a 
  byproduct 
  of 
  astronomy. 
  

  

  La 
  Condamine 
  went 
  to 
  South 
  America 
  by 
  way 
  of 
  Panama 
  and 
  landed 
  

   in 
  "Peru" 
  at 
  the 
  small 
  port 
  of 
  Manta, 
  actually 
  on 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  Ecuador 
  

   north 
  of 
  Guayaquil. 
  The 
  Andes 
  were 
  ascended 
  by 
  way 
  of 
  Esmeral- 
  

   das, 
  another 
  coast 
  locality 
  north 
  of 
  Manta. 
  Heavy 
  rains 
  in 
  the 
  moun- 
  

   tains 
  made 
  the 
  trails 
  impassable, 
  and 
  the 
  few 
  weeks 
  of 
  enforced 
  delay 
  

   in 
  the 
  coast 
  district 
  doubtless 
  were 
  responsible 
  for 
  his 
  contacts 
  with 
  

   rubber. 
  Thus 
  a 
  mere 
  incident 
  of 
  travel 
  appears 
  to 
  have 
  had 
  a 
  much 
  

   more 
  important 
  relation 
  to 
  human 
  progress 
  than 
  anything 
  else 
  that 
  

   La 
  Condamine 
  was 
  able 
  to 
  contribute. 
  No 
  time 
  would 
  appear 
  to 
  have 
  

   been 
  lost 
  by 
  La 
  Condamine 
  in 
  sending 
  his 
  first 
  report 
  on 
  rubber 
  to 
  the 
  

   Royal 
  Academy 
  of 
  Sciences 
  at 
  Paris, 
  in 
  1736. 
  A 
  further 
  account 
  was 
  

   published 
  in 
  1745, 
  soon 
  after 
  La 
  Condamine 
  returned 
  to 
  France. 
  

  

  LA 
  CONDAMINE 
  IN 
  BRAZIL 
  AND 
  GUIANA 
  

  

  The 
  fact 
  that 
  La 
  Condamine 
  descended 
  the 
  Amazon 
  and 
  visited 
  

   French 
  Guiana 
  before 
  returning 
  to 
  Europe 
  is 
  responsible 
  for 
  the 
  

   strange 
  confusion 
  of 
  the 
  principal 
  rubber 
  trees 
  already 
  noted. 
  The 
  

   chief 
  purpose 
  for 
  which 
  rubber 
  was 
  being 
  collected 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  La 
  

   Condamine's 
  visit 
  was 
  for 
  making 
  torches 
  and 
  candles, 
  which 
  are 
  said 
  

   to 
  have 
  burned 
  very 
  well. 
  The 
  evil 
  smell 
  of 
  burning 
  rubber 
  comes 
  

   largely 
  from 
  the 
  sulfur 
  that 
  is 
  added. 
  At 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  La 
  Conda- 
  

   mine's 
  visit, 
  supplies 
  of 
  rubber 
  were 
  being 
  obtained 
  from 
  the 
  eastern 
  

   slopes 
  of 
  the 
  Andes 
  in 
  the 
  Maynas 
  district 
  of 
  the 
  upper 
  Amazon, 
  as 
  

   well 
  as 
  from 
  the 
  forests 
  along 
  the 
  Pacific 
  coast. 
  No 
  rubber 
  gathering 
  

   on 
  the 
  lower 
  Amazon 
  was 
  mentioned 
  by 
  La 
  Condamine, 
  but 
  at 
  Para 
  

   small 
  objects 
  modeled 
  from 
  rubber 
  were 
  seen, 
  and 
  some 
  of 
  these 
  were 
  

   carried 
  to 
  French 
  Guiana, 
  where 
  a 
  search 
  for 
  rubber 
  trees 
  was 
  started. 
  

   Fresneau, 
  an 
  engineer 
  who 
  spent 
  14 
  years 
  in 
  this 
  colony, 
  found 
  several 
  

   latex-bearing 
  trees, 
  as 
  reported 
  through 
  La 
  Condamine 
  to 
  the 
  Paris 
  

   Academy 
  in 
  1751. 
  

  

  One 
  of 
  the 
  Guiana 
  trees 
  was 
  supposed 
  from 
  native 
  information 
  to 
  

   be 
  the 
  kind 
  that 
  furnished 
  rubber 
  in 
  Brazil, 
  and 
  this 
  was 
  described 
  by 
  

   Aublet 
  in 
  1775 
  as 
  Hevea 
  guianensis. 
  Several 
  localities 
  were 
  noted, 
  and 
  

   the 
  nuts 
  were 
  said 
  to 
  be 
  gathered 
  and 
  eaten 
  by 
  the 
  natives, 
  the 
  "al- 
  

   mond" 
  having 
  a 
  pleasant 
  taste. 
  La 
  Condamine 
  and 
  Fresneau 
  are 
  not 
  

   mentioned, 
  but 
  a 
  reference 
  is 
  given 
  to 
  the 
  "poor 
  figure 
  of 
  the 
  Guiana 
  

   tree 
  in 
  the 
  memoir 
  of 
  1751." 
  The 
  name 
  '•'■Hevea 
  peruviana" 
  engraved 
  

   on 
  Aublet's 
  plate 
  335 
  leaves 
  no 
  doubt 
  that 
  the 
  Guiana 
  tree 
  was 
  sup- 
  

   posed 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  same 
  that 
  La 
  Condamine 
  had 
  found 
  on 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  

   Esmeraldas, 
  "northwest 
  of 
  Quito," 
  where 
  Castilla 
  grows, 
  and 
  the 
  

   native 
  name 
  heve 
  was 
  encountered. 
  

  

  