412 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XL. No. 1029 



scarcely more than summarily encyclopedic 

 in their character, would have been omitted 

 with little damage to the whole, and would 

 have been more than compensated for by a 

 still fuller treatment of the behavior of the 

 Hevea tree under cultural conditions, a sub- 

 ject with which the author is familiar because 

 of residence in Ceylon and intimate study of 

 its plantations. Indeed, a complete presenta- 

 tion of his studies of lates flow and methods 

 of tapping, bringing the whole of his work in 

 one volume, would have been distinctly valu- 

 able to the planter and as much of the book 

 is occupied by details which, in spite of the 

 purpose of its author, are beyond the scope of, 

 or insufficient for, the general reader, the only 

 disadvantage would he found in a perhaps 

 smaller market. The prospective planter, and, 

 still more so, the person who still entertains 

 the notion that rubber planting is a road to 

 immediate wealth, will find plenty of material 

 for an introductory study of the situation as re- 

 gards rubber planting in the east ; and if he has 

 actually started on the venture, plenty of sug- 

 gestion, of great value from the practical point 

 of view. So that, while the reviewer thinks 

 that the interests of a wide circle of readers 

 have been misapprehended, and ill met, the 

 book is most decidedly a good general intro- 

 duction to the study of the problem of Hevea 

 cultural methods in the far east, and would 

 have been still more useful had the subject 

 been extended and a fuller bibliography ap- 

 pended. 



It would also have added not a little to the 

 text in point of value to the intelligent stu- 

 dent to have given specific citations of au- 

 thorities on which the author frequently and 

 properly depends, while a little further consul- 

 tation of these would have obviated some 

 minor insufficiencies and errors, as, for example, 

 that made when it is stated that the methods 

 of preparing guayule rubber are kept secret. 



Plantation rubber has received its apotheo- 

 sis, and it is with us to stay. The doom of 

 wild para, to say nothing of the inferior kinds, 

 is as sure to sound as has that of guayule. No 

 two economic plants have histories more full 

 of romance than these, but, as those of early 



history in general, exploration, adventure and 

 exploitation of wild rubber fields must give 

 way to plain, work-a-day methods. Civilized 

 man does not hunt for his acorns and roots; 

 he grows them. No more can he afford to hunt 

 for his rubber; this also must he raise inten- 

 sively and systematically, reducing costs and 

 perfecting the product by the help of every 

 scientific method at his command. In reading 

 anew the history given by Mr. Lock of the at- 

 tempt, now happily completely successful, to 

 introduce the Hevea into the east, one's ad- 

 miration of the pluck and faith displayed by 

 the British, to whom everlasting credit must 

 be rendered for their service, is again awak- 

 ened. If Kew had done nothing more for 

 civilization than this, the rubber producers of 

 the far east could well take the support of that 

 institution on their own shoulders for all time, 

 and still never repay the debt. Botanical sci- 

 ence needs the support of the business man 

 more than he is willing at present to render. 

 It is not inappropriate to say this at this 

 moment when the big rubber companies are 

 occupying the field. There are still new 

 sources of wealth for science to search for, 

 but science must work in its own way. We 

 should like to see the man of business willing 

 to take the long chance in the interests of sci- 

 ence with the same sang froid as in the in- 

 terests of business. He will be the gainer in 

 the end. 



Mr. Lock's account of the physiology of 

 latex flow is valuable, but, at the same time, it 

 shows us how far we are yet from having more 

 than a very meager understanding of the 

 whole subject. In this, the way to an accurate 

 scientific study of the physiology of rubber se- 

 cretion has been blazed out by the more im- 

 mediately necessary practical tests so that the 

 planter might have real guidance in handling 

 the tree. The nature of the " wound re- 

 sponse " characteristic of Hevea, is still to be 

 closely studied. Here it may be remarked that 

 the relation of yield to water-supply appears also- 

 to be antithetic to that observed in Casiilloa 

 and the Guayule (Parthenium argentatum), 

 since the total yield and highest percentage of 

 rubber in Hevea varies directly with the water 



