434 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



variety of figures. These are then dried by exposure 

 to the heat of a smoke fire : another layer is then 

 spread over the first, and dried by the same means, 

 and thus layer after layer is put on, until the whole is 

 of the required thickness. While yet soft it will 

 receive and retain any impression that may be given 

 to it on the outside. When perfectly dry the clay 

 form within is broken into small fragments by per- 

 cussion, and the pieces are drawn out through the 

 aperture, which is always left for the purpose. The 

 common bottle of Indian rubber, therefore, consists of 

 numerous layers of pure caoutchouc, alternating with 

 as many layers of soot. 



The natives of those parts of South America to 

 which these trees are indigenous convert the juice to 

 a variety of purposes. They collect it chiefly in the 

 rainy season, because, though it will exude at all 

 times, it flows then most abundantly. Boots are 

 made of it by the Indians, through which water 

 cannot penetrate ; and the inhabitants of Quito 

 prepare a kind of cloth with it, which they apply to 

 the same purposes as those for which oil-cloth or 

 tarpauling is used here. This, no doubt, is similar 

 to the cloth now prepared with this substance in 

 England, the use of which promises to yield so many 

 important advantages. 



The South Americans likewise fashion it into 

 flambeaux, which give a beautiful light, and emit an 

 odour which is not unpleasant to those who are 

 accustomed to use them ; but Europeans are annoyed 

 by the fetid smell which they diffuse. One of these, 

 an inch and a half in diameter, and two feet long, will 

 burn during twelve hours. 



Since the discovery of caoutchouc in America, a 

 similar juice has been obtained from several trees 

 growing in Asia, and which likewise are natives of 

 tropical regions. These are the Ficus Indica, 

 Artocarpus Integrifolia, and Urceola Elastica 



