﻿NATURAL 
  RUBBER 
  — 
  COOK 
  373 
  

  

  Thus 
  it 
  came 
  about 
  that 
  the 
  name 
  heve, 
  used 
  by 
  the 
  natives 
  of 
  Es- 
  

   meraldas 
  for 
  the 
  Castilla 
  tree, 
  was 
  employed 
  by 
  Aublet 
  as 
  a 
  generic 
  

   designation 
  for 
  the 
  Guiana 
  rubber 
  tree, 
  and 
  later 
  was 
  extended 
  to 
  the 
  

   Para 
  rubber 
  tree. 
  The 
  writers 
  who 
  placed 
  Esmeraldas 
  in 
  Brazil 
  or 
  

   in 
  Venezuela, 
  rather 
  than 
  in 
  Ecuador, 
  show 
  the 
  extent 
  of 
  confusion 
  

   that 
  a 
  misleading 
  name 
  may 
  generate. 
  Ducke 
  says 
  in 
  a 
  footnote 
  of 
  his 
  

   "Revision 
  of 
  the 
  Genus 
  Hevea" 
  in 
  1935 
  : 
  "I 
  do 
  not 
  know 
  why 
  Aublet 
  

   attributed 
  the 
  origin 
  of 
  the 
  name 
  heve 
  to 
  Esmeraldas 
  on 
  the 
  Pacific 
  

   coast 
  of 
  Ecuador, 
  where 
  the 
  genus 
  Hevea 
  is 
  unknown." 
  The 
  reason 
  is 
  

   that 
  the 
  trees 
  were 
  assumed 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  same, 
  since 
  both 
  produced 
  rubber. 
  

  

  A 
  BASIC 
  DISCOVERY 
  IN 
  EXTRACTING 
  PARA 
  RUBBER 
  LATEX 
  

  

  The 
  rapid 
  extension 
  of 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  rubber 
  during 
  the 
  present 
  century 
  

   was 
  made 
  possible 
  by 
  the 
  discovery 
  at 
  Singapore 
  about 
  1890 
  of 
  a 
  new 
  

   method 
  of 
  tapping 
  the 
  Para 
  rubber 
  tree. 
  The 
  discovery 
  was 
  made 
  by 
  

   Henry 
  N. 
  Ridley, 
  then 
  in 
  charge 
  of 
  the 
  Singapore 
  Botanic 
  Gardens. 
  

   A 
  definite 
  date 
  is 
  difficult 
  to 
  assign 
  because 
  the 
  tapping 
  experiments 
  

   were 
  made 
  incidentally 
  and 
  not 
  published 
  by 
  Ridley 
  until 
  1897. 
  Even 
  

   then 
  the 
  report 
  was 
  fragmentary 
  and 
  not 
  explicit, 
  so 
  that 
  little 
  ac- 
  

   count 
  has 
  been 
  taken 
  of 
  what 
  in 
  reality 
  was 
  a 
  basic 
  discovery 
  that 
  made 
  

   plantation 
  rubber 
  feasible 
  on 
  a 
  large 
  scale. 
  The 
  idea 
  that 
  latex 
  could 
  

   be 
  drawn 
  repeatedly 
  and 
  at 
  short 
  intervals 
  from 
  the 
  same 
  wound, 
  by 
  

   paring 
  the 
  margin, 
  doubtless 
  seemed 
  too 
  absurd 
  to 
  be 
  credited 
  by 
  rea- 
  

   sonable 
  people 
  and 
  was 
  therefore 
  difficult 
  to 
  disseminate. 
  No 
  effective 
  

   record 
  might 
  have 
  been 
  made 
  if 
  Ridley 
  had 
  not 
  been 
  visited 
  at 
  Singa- 
  

   pore 
  in 
  1896 
  by 
  David 
  Fairchild, 
  as 
  described 
  in 
  an 
  article 
  in 
  the 
  

   Journal 
  of 
  Heredity 
  for 
  May 
  1928, 
  "Dr. 
  Ridley 
  of 
  Singapore 
  and 
  the 
  

   Beginnings 
  of 
  the 
  Rubber 
  Industry." 
  

  

  Fairchild 
  appears 
  to 
  have 
  appreciated 
  more 
  clearly 
  than 
  Ridley 
  that 
  

   a 
  definite 
  and 
  indispensable 
  step 
  had 
  been 
  taken 
  in 
  Ridley's 
  experi- 
  

   ments. 
  To 
  Fairchild 
  it 
  seemed 
  that 
  Ridley 
  had 
  worked 
  out 
  "the 
  most 
  

   important 
  single 
  point 
  of 
  technique 
  connected 
  with 
  the 
  very 
  vital 
  

   problem 
  of 
  how 
  to 
  get 
  the 
  rubber 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  Hevea 
  trees." 
  Fairchild's 
  

   evaluation 
  of 
  Ridley's 
  work 
  is 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  to 
  Dr. 
  Ridley 
  that 
  we 
  owe 
  the 
  discovery 
  that 
  you 
  can 
  open 
  a 
  wound 
  in 
  

   the 
  bark 
  of 
  the 
  rubber 
  tree, 
  let 
  it 
  "bleed" 
  and 
  collect 
  the 
  latex 
  as 
  long 
  as 
  it 
  will 
  

   run, 
  and 
  when 
  the 
  wound 
  dries 
  cut 
  it 
  open 
  again 
  the 
  next 
  day 
  and 
  get 
  not 
  only 
  

   another 
  run 
  of 
  latex 
  but 
  a 
  larger 
  run 
  than 
  from 
  the 
  original 
  incision. 
  It 
  is 
  this 
  

   discovery 
  which 
  led 
  to 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  the 
  modern 
  methods 
  of 
  rubber 
  tapping 
  

   and, 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  fairly 
  said, 
  solved 
  the 
  planter's 
  difficulties; 
  turned 
  the 
  trick 
  so 
  

   to 
  say, 
  in 
  a 
  critical 
  period 
  of 
  the 
  rubber 
  industry. 
  Every 
  well 
  informed 
  manu- 
  

   facturer 
  in 
  America 
  will 
  see 
  that 
  such 
  a 
  trick, 
  such 
  a 
  discovery, 
  had 
  it 
  been 
  in 
  

   the 
  field 
  of 
  patentable 
  inventions 
  would 
  have 
  resulted 
  in 
  royalties 
  sufficient 
  to 
  

   have 
  enriched 
  the 
  discoverer 
  and 
  placed 
  him 
  in 
  the 
  class 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  inventors 
  

   of 
  the 
  twentieth 
  century. 
  But 
  it 
  did 
  not 
  do 
  this. 
  Dr. 
  Ridley 
  today 
  is 
  a 
  man 
  of 
  

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