quality of the rubber, which is the more elastic, resistent and 
durable the smaller the proportion of those elements. 
In the coagulation of the latex, the resin incorporates itself 
in the rubber, it becoming difficult to separate it, which, how- 
ever, is necessary; the proteine or albuminous matter is the 
cause of the developing of the bacteria which occasion the 
putrefaction of the manufactured article. 
The method employed in Brazil in the extraction of the latex 
and in the preparation of rubber from the. heveas trees, is the 
same as that which was taught by the natives and it is a re- 
markable thing, that due to the excellency of the product result- 
ing therefrom, it is considered even to-day as the best system. 
The great production of rubber in Brazil, is due to the ex- 
ploitation of the natural seringaes. A “seringal” or, better said 
“seringaes”’ in the plural sense, are the forests where the hevea 
trees flourish among other numerous specimens of luxuriant 
vegetation, and in those regions everybody, i. e., all the able- 
bodied men, occupy themselves with the extraction of rubber 
and are known as “seringueiros.” 
In order to exploit the “seringal,” operations are commenced 
by the construction on the bank of the river, at a place easy of 
access for navigation, of a large rustic edifice with out-buildings 
and various sheds. The general edifice serves as a dwelling- 
place for the owner or his representative and includes a general 
store or shop with a tavern which does business in selling all 
the necessary articles required in or connected with the life 
of exploiting the “seringal,” a store-house for depositing the 
rubber and an office or counting-house. The sheds are the 
rudimentary habitation-huts of the “seringueiros” and are some- 
times constructed in the interior of the forests, so as to facilitate 
to a greater degree the work which they have in hand. 
As soon as the forest is explored and the seringueiras dis- 
covered, estrades are opened, these being winding roads cut in 
the undergrowth and brush-wood with the “facdo” (a species of 
large pruning-knife). and these roads connect a 100 or 150 rub- 
ber trees and they lead back to their original starting point. At 
sunrise; that is to say, at 6 o’clock in the morning, the ser- 
ingueiro armed with a “tercado” a sort of speer, a fowling-piece 
or sporting-gun, a small axe or hatchet, a pail and a large num- 
ber of “tigelinhas,” commences his work. The hatchet is the 
instrument employed for tapping the trees; it takes the form 
of a common pole-axe, being, however, generally of cast iron 
and with the edge of the blade blunt rather than sharp, and 
from 3 to 4 centimetres broad. The tigelinhas are small vessels 
or cups of tin-plate with a capacity of about one hundred 
grammes and of a conical shape cut off at the top. 
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