18^ 



i 



CASE Caoutchouc of commerce. It is obtained from incisions^ 

 105. made in the trunk of Hevea hrasiliensis^ Muell. Arg., a 

 large forest tree of Brazil, now extensively cultivated in 

 Ceylon and the Straits Settlements. Various samples of 

 the product are shown from Brazil, Ceylon, Straits 

 Settlements, Burma, Gold Coast and Trinidad. Of the 

 many forms from Brazil observe models of animals, 

 bottles, &c., made by moulding the rubber over a clay 

 base which was afterwards broken up and removed. This 

 method of preparing the rubber for commerce is now 

 obsolete. On the lower shelves of the middle compart- 

 ment note a series of specimens to illustrate the industry 

 in Brazil. Note (1) small axe for tapping the trees ; the 

 milk falls into small bowls (2), whence it is poured into 

 a collecting gourd (3), from which it is emptied into a large 

 clay bowl (4). From the latter it is ladled with a cuia or 

 calabash (5), and poured over the round blade of the 

 paddle (6), which is then held in the smoke of the stove 

 (7), the invariable fuel being Urucury nuts {Maximiliana- 

 regia). This is the mode of production of the black 

 rubber of commerce. Many of the numerous applications; 

 of Caoutchouc, including those of hard vulcanised rubber 

 for jewellery, &c., are here illustrated by a large series of > 

 specimens presented by the India Rubber, Gutta Percha 

 and Telegraph Company. 



The exports of rubber from Brazil during the year 1905 

 amounted to 31,474 tons, of the value of £13,795,372*, 

 The imports of rubber into the United Kingdom from' 

 Ceylon during the same period were 60 tons 18 cwts., of 

 the value of £34,594 ; and from the Straits Settlements) 

 975 tons 14 cwts., of the value of £265,863. , >"• 



On the lower shelves of the last compartment of this ' 

 Case are fruits, seeds, and rubber from other species of' 

 Hevea including H. Spruceanci, Muell. Arg., from British 

 Guiana, H. Benthamiana, Muell. Arg., and H. lutea, 

 Ijlluell. Arg., from Brazil. Other important Caoutchoucs^ 

 a^re afforded by species of Landolphia^ Carpodinus, &c., ' 

 Case 75 ; Funtumia^ Case 78 ; Manihot^ Case 106 ; Sapiurrty. 

 Case 108; FicuSy Case 114; and Castilloay Case 115. 



Q^;pP; Note on an upper shelf the dark green wood of Santal, 

 i^»i Vert {Croton sp.) from Zanzibar. It is said to be- 



