INDIAN MODE OF COLLECTING THE RESIN 217 



the beginning of the last century, and is now absolutely indis- 

 pensable for a thousand different uses. Nothing was known 

 even of its origin until the year 1736, when the French naturalist 

 La Condamine, while exploring the banks of the Amazon, dis- 

 covered that it was produced by a tree which the Indians 

 called Neve, and which the learned have since introduced into 

 the family of the Euphorbias under the name of Siphonia 

 elastica. It grows to the height of about sixty feet, acquires a 

 diameter of about twenty-four inches, and is found everywhere 

 scattered through the primitive forests along the borders of the 

 rivers in Guiana and North Brazil. 



The resin is collected by the Indians in the following simple 

 manner. With a small hatchet they make deep and long 

 incisions in the rind, from whichamilky sap abundantly exudes. 

 A small wooden peg is then fixed into each aperture to prevent 

 its closing, and a cup of moist clay fastened underneath, which 

 in about four or five hours is filled with as many table-spoonfuls 

 of the juice. The produce of a number of incisions having been 

 gathered in a large earthen vessel, is then carried to the hut, 

 where it is spread in thin coatings upon moulds made of clay, 

 and dried, layer after layer, over a fire, until the whole has 

 acquired a certain thickness. When perfectly dry, the clay form 

 within is broken into small fragments, and the pieces are 

 extracted through an aperture, which is always left for the 

 purpose. In the caoutchouc the original pure white colour of 

 the resin naturally changes into bJack, from the smoke to 

 which it is exposed while drying. It is generally imported in 

 the form of bottles, or in large flat pieces ; frequently also in a 

 liquid state, in hermetically closed vessels. 



The Indian caoutchouc-gatherers or seringueros could easily 

 collect sixteen pounds daily, but as they are extremely indolent, 

 the average produce hardly amounts to one-fourth of that 

 quantity. 



Besides the Siphonia elastica, many other American trees, 

 chiefly belonging to the families of the Euphorbiacese and 

 Urticese, afford excellent kinds of caoutchouc; and since it is 

 become so valuable an article of commerce, the East Indies, and 

 Java likewise, yield considerable quantities, chiefly from the 

 Urceola elastica and the Ficus elastica. 



In spite of its many valuable properties, particularly its 



