1 
rubber seems. to be on the wane, for every year there is 
extensive migration of Ceara people to Para, bound for the forests 
of the Amazon. 
From Bahia and Pernambuco, in Brazil, comes a rubber of a 
dierent grade from that of Para. It is cured with alum and salt 
ernambuco comes in sheets, and is of a yellowish- 
ae tinge. That from Bahia is not so good, and comes in round 
balls. The ian objection to it is that it is very damp, 
entailing a large loss to the importer from shrinkage. 
Of Mangabeira rubber, there are three grades, very similar to the 
Bahia and Pernambuco sorts. A grade that has a red look is con- 
sidered superior, and sells for 5 or 10 cents per pound higher than 
the others 
From Cen tral America comes a variety ‘of rübbon, distinctive in 
name voces mesh but owing to the lines of transportation center- 
ing a t Greytown, a and the trans-shipment at that point to Ne 
York, there is much confusion, one sort often getting substituted 
for another. The Pacific mail steamers gather also different 
varieties at Panama with po (me confusion. That which comes 
from Nicaragua is ee E ge “sheet” and “scrap.” The 
latter comes in pieces a hone 24 feet long, weighing from 10 to 
nds. In the gathering of rubber in the forest, around the 
cuts in the treea p is left, which is given to the man as a 
perquisite, and this forms * scrap. s in the peculiar mode of 
gathering, it is ssi dry, there is little leaks in shrinkage, and this 
quality makes it a favourite with manufacturers, It contains some 
bark, but not so much as the “sheet.” The sheet, after it is milled 
and washed, is the same rubber as the “scrap.” Both are cured 
by the use of a vine from which a soapy [? alkaline] substance is 
form 
There is another grade which comes from Central America, 
containing a considerable amount of ashes, due to its being 
smoked over the latter. It comes in thin sheets $ to } inch thick. 
It is a dry rubber, there not being so much loss in shrinkage ; but 
it is not so firm as the other grades, and it is difficult to work. 
There also comes from Central American ports a rubber which is 
chiefly grown in New Granada, and is called “ Carthagena strip.” 
It is from 1j to 2 inches tbi ck, and there is a great deal of sand 
and dirt in it. It is a black, tough r ubber 
Honduras furnishes a great deal of rubber of oe Tuno sg 
which is found in many other sections of Central Amer 
uatemala ranks low in the piere varieties, Br S m ; 
resinous substance which gives it a tarry appearance. It comes 
in sheets pressed together. There is a rubber which comes from 
Angostura as good as Para. When cut it is found to contain little 
spots of white as large as a pea. Tuxpan, Mexico, once sent a fine 
grade of strip rubber; but as the trees have been destroyed by 
eutting them down instead of tapping for rubber, the imports from 
there are now very small. The rubber is gathered by scraping 
from the bark. 
SERRE. comes in large flakes or lumps of a whitish colour in 
the best sorts, the inferior sorts being porous and exuding a black 
liquid which stains the knife and hands. As in a great many 
“ Centrals” the name is often confounded with the sorts, 
