*96 CURIOUS OR USEFUL PLANTS. 



with the united powers of flexibility and elasticity ; and it is fur- 

 ther remarkable, as being capable, notwithstanding its softness, of 

 resisting the action of very active menstrua. Of this extraordi- 

 nary production very little was known seventy years ago. In 

 1736, M. de laCondamine, who accompanied the French academi- 

 cians to South America, to measure a degree of the meridian, sent 

 a paper on the subject of caoutchouc to the French Academy. From 

 his account we learn that the juice oozes out, under the form of a 

 vegetable milk, from incisions made in the tree ; and that it is ga- 

 thered chiefly in the time of rain, because, though it may be col- 

 lected at all times, it flows then most abundantly. It thickens and 

 hardens gradually on exposure to the air ; and as soon as it acquires 

 a solid consistence, it becomes extremely flexible and elastic. The 

 Indians make boots of it, which water cannot penetrate, and which, 

 when smoked, have the appearance of real leather. Bottles are 

 also made of it, to the necks of which are fastened hollow reeds, 

 so that the liquor contained in them may be squirted through the 

 reeds or pipes by pressure : one of these filled with water is always 

 presented to each of the guests at their entertainments, who never 

 fail to make use of it before eating. Flambeaux are likewise made 

 of this substance ; they give a beautiful light, and emit no unplea- 

 sant smell : a torch an inch and a half in diameter and two feet 

 long will burn twelve hours. A kind of cloth is also prepared 

 from it which the inhabitants of Quito apply to the same purpose 

 as our oilcloth. The form in which it usually comes to us is some- 

 thing resembling bottles ; but it will take any other shape that may 

 be desired, by covering moulds of clay with the juice; and, as one 

 layer of it becomes dry, adding others until it is of the proper thick, 

 ness : it is then held over a strong smoke of vegetables on fire, by 

 which it is hardened into the texture and appearance of leather ; 

 and before the finishing, while yet soft, it is capable of receiving any 

 impression on the outside, which it afterwards retains. When the 

 whole is done, the inside mould is picked out. 



Of the trees yielding this singular substance, those growing along 

 the banks of the river of the Amazons are described by M. Conda- 

 mine as attaining a very great height; being at the same time per- 

 fectly straight, and having no branches except at the top, which is 

 but small, covering usually no more than a circumference of ten 

 feet. Its leaves bear some resemblance to those of the manioc ; 



