2 
continued  to  sell  well,  the  quality  and  condition  of  nearly  all  ar- 
rivals were  satisfactory  and  the  small  trade  done  must  have  been 
profitable  to  the  importers. 
Java  Rubber  and  New  Guinea  have  been  very  scarce,  but 
generally  speaking  these  qualities  were  not  in  great  demand  and 
quotations  were  only  nominal. 
. Balata.  We  had  reduced  arrivals  of  these  descriptions,  and  all 
the  imports  of  these  grades  have  met  with  a good  demand,  al- 
though at  one  time  Block  Batata  was  as  low’  as  is.  yd.  The  year 
closes  with  buyers  at  2s.  and  sellers  at  2s.  :d.  Nearly  the  whole 
of  the  stock  in  first  and  second  hand  has  been  cleared  off  and  gone 
into  sonsumption,  and  all  new’  arrivals  are  selling  very  readily  at 
full  prices.  Sheet  Batata.  Owdng  to  the  increased  consumption 
the  prices  have  also  gradually  gone  up,  and  the  market  closes  w’ith 
buyers  at  2s.  yd.  showing  qd.  per  lb.  advance  for  the  year. 
Gufta  Pereha.  'Fhe  year  opened  wdth  a very  poor  demand,  and 
the  market  continued  w^eak  throughout  almost  the  whole  of  the 
year.  It  w’as  only  during  November  that,  owing  to  larger  contracts 
for  cables  being  placed,  extensive  buying  orders  appeared  on  the 
market,  thus  increasing  values  of  Gutta  Pereha,  and  since  then  a 
fairly  large  business  has  been  done.  There  seems  to  be  every 
prospect  of  a continued  good  market  with  fair  prices  being  paid  for 
good  and  desirable  qualities  of  Gutta  Pereha. 
THE  HEVEAS  OR  SERINGUEIRAS. 
BY 
J.  BARBOSA  RODRIGUES. 
Director,  Botanic  Gardens,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil, 
Translated  by 
A.  D.  MACHADO, 
Assistant  Superintendent , Botanic  Gardens,  Singapore. 
Chapter  I. 
HISTORICAL  RESUME. 
The  knowledge  and  the  use  of  elastic  gum  date  from  the  remo- 
test antiquity. 
The  primitive  races  of  America — when  into  their  harbours  sailed 
Christopher  Columbus — were  already  acquainted  wuth  this  article 
employing  it  in  their  manufactures  and  their  games.  Its  use  w^as 
introduced  into  this  great  continent  by  those  Asiatic  immigrants 
w’ho  in  prehistoric  times,  had  settled  here.  Divided,  each  race  em- 
ployed this  substance  produced  by  the  flora  of  the  locality  in  which 
they  resided  and  containing  the  .same  properties,  consisting  always 
of  a milk,  w’hich,  when  prepared,  gave  elasticity  and  impermeability. 
For  example,  the  Mayas  and  the  Nauhds  of  Mexico,  not  only 
utilized  It  but  likewise  traded  in  the  article,  exporting  it  in  great 
