CAOUTCHOUC, OR INDIA RUBBER. 385 



making incisions in the bark around the trunk, beginning at the base, or 

 at the reflex roots, which generally lie exposed. A milky emulsion con- 

 taining the caoutchouc exudes from these wounds, and is collected in 

 earthen or clay moulds, which, as soon as they are covered with a stratum 

 of the liquid, are exposed either to the heat of the fire or the sun. When 

 dry, they are again dipped, and so on until the coating of caoutchouc 

 attains a thickness varying from one to two inches. The moulds are then 

 broken, and the pieces removed through the neck, leaving the solid 

 coating or envelope — the crude u Bottle " or " Para " India rubber of 

 commerce. 



Having so far traced the principal sources of caoutchouc, and leaving 

 its various modes of collection, chemical and other properties, to form the 

 subject of a future paper, we will as briefly glance at the part of the caout- 

 chouc trade which tells of thirty-five years' uninterrupted manipulation of 

 this singular gum ; during which period vast transactions have been con- 

 ducted and carried out in it, while a knowledge of many of its most 

 valuable properties and features has been obtained. Application has 

 followed application, and invention succeeded invention, in an astounding 

 manner — so readily has this elastic substance accommodated itself to the 

 necessities and requirements of the age it has passed through ; and in this 

 respect it may be said to stand unrivalled by any similar product. At no 

 former period of its history has this material stood forward so prominently 

 and conspicuously as at the present day, and never have its peculiar pro- 

 perties been so fully appreciated or universally admitted. But, great a3 

 are its known advantages, they cannot fail to be multiplied to an unlimited 

 extent, as science aids in the discovery of mechanical and chemical means 

 to apply it to the daily-increasing wants which it alone is capable of ful- 

 filling. Its past applications, worthy of note as materially benefiting the 

 progress of the age, have been chiefly mechanical ; but a new era has 

 dawned, in which knowledge is everywhere unfolding and lending her 

 aid towards development and progress. Steam, which has already worked 

 such mighty changes iu civilisation and the commerce of nations, is largely 

 indebted to caoutchouc as supplying a want in engineering appliances 

 incapable of being made good by any other material, not excepting metal 

 itself. But this i8 not all : there are higher points to be arrived at. 

 We are justified in our assertion that caoutchouc is destined to play a yet 

 more important part, in linking together " shore to shore with the utter- 

 most parts of the earth," spreading civilisation and " uniting mankind 

 under one bond of universal brotherhood." 



That electricity, as applied to Submarine Telegraphy, will ultimately 

 effect this end, there can be no doubt ; and that caoutchouc, whose peculiar 

 qualities are unsurpassed by any material that can be brought into compe- 

 tition with it, will also contribute its share to this end, is almost a matter 

 of certainty. 



It has been said that to gutta-percha, a gum now equally well known 

 as caoutchouc, is due the present perfection and success of Ocean Telegraphy. 



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