4 RUBBER AND 



various uses of rubber by the Omaquas Indians, including 

 that of making syringes or squirts. These instruments 

 appear to have played an important part in social gather- 

 ings and even in religious festivals. From this use comes 

 the Portuguese name Pao di Xirringa, the syringe tree. 

 Hence also are derived the familiar terms Seringa for 

 rubber and Seringueiros for the labourers employed in 

 the collection of this material. 



The Trade in Wild Rubber. 



The recent development of the trade in wild rubber 

 may be traced in the following table, which shows the 

 history for nearly a century of the most important kind, 

 namely Para rubber, the produce of Hevea brasiliensis. 

 Prior to the development of the planting industry in the 

 East, the export of Para rubber from Brazil represented 

 about half the world's total supply of the raw material. 



TABLE I 

 Exports of Para Rubber from Brazil. 



Year Tons Year Tons 



1827 31 1870 6,601 



1830 156 1880 8,679 



1840 388 1890 15,354 



1850 1,466 1901 28,161 



1860 2,671 1910 38,200 



Wild rubbers from Africa and Asia did not begin to 

 come into the market in large quantities until after the 



