Ii: 
Biffen has been good enough to furnish the following particulars 
as the result of personal observations on trees in the wild 
state 
a The leaves fall in August and September. Seeds produced 
very abundantly ; ripe in Se tember; they keep their power o 
germination well. The tree is apparently Moti liable to a dry- 
rot, for rotten branches are continually fallin 
* Growth is very rapid ; in Baturité we saw one-year old plants 
10 to 12 feet high ; in five to six years it is sae to tap; then it 
is some 25 feet high and 8 to 9 inches in diamet 
“ Propagated either from cuttings or from ads, Bo far nurseries 
have failed in Ceara. Shade for established trees is unnecessary. 
Large virgas are now being made in the district." 
“The tree has a singularly wide range of conditions; it grows 
in the de een where rainfall is said to be under 50 inches, 
and the veg tation is scorched up for the greater part of the 
year; also, rr the mountains S iini at 3,500 feet at Monte 
Alegre) shoe rainfall, I should say roughly, is over 100 i vie 
In the mountains the temperature falls even below 60°. F. 
night." 
* The tree is never found in marshy soil ; apparently it thrives 
best in somewhat scanty soil among granite oulders.” 
“The rubber is exported in three forms :—(a.) In pale yellow- 
brown threads, + inch in diameter and several inches in length, 
obtained by peeling off the thin layer of es bark and news 
a slight incision with a narrow-bladed axe. small quantity of 
latex flows and coagulates on the trunk. (b In small e cakes 
prepared by tapping the base of the tree and allowing the latex 
to flow on the ground and coagulate there. Hence the rubber 
contains large quantities of dirt on its lower surface which is 
moved to a certain extent by rubbing in coarse-meshed sieves. 
(6) By smoking with the vapour from the burning nuts of a 
palm, in a similar manner to Para rubber. So prepared it cop- 
tains a large quantity of water, which partially sweats out on 
exposure to the heat of the sun. The exudation on evaporation 
leaves a brown resinous substance. This last method is becoming 
very general." 
“ To collect the latex small tin onpa are used ; each tree is tapped 
80 days, divided, by an interval of about three mouths, into two 
periods of pate each. Under ids system the tree is said to live 
for 15 to 20 y 
*'The tapping is always done in the dry season—from July to 
December. 
“The average yield per tree is from } to 1} kilos. (1 to 3 Ibs.) 
per year; coagulation may be effected by churning, or by the 
addition of an excess of €: or salt solution. In the former 
case the rubber particles which are unprotected by any film (as 
the fat sartiles of milk pie simply adhere to form a mass 
* In the case of the gro of excess of water, salt, or r smoking, 
coagulation is brought t by means of the glo bulin presens 
(Green, Proc. Roy. Soc., 1886, p. 39). This coagulates at 74—76^ C. 
or on dilution, etc. an nd tangles up the rubber particles in its 
meshes, much as white of egg gathers up boat in suspension 
when used for clearing jellies.” 
