74 



Tlie Supplement to the Tropical A griculturist. 



A chemical examination gave the following 

 results : — 



Percentage Rubber as Composition of 



of received. dry rubber. 



Moisture ... 22 - 3 — 



Caoutchouc .. 6i'8 82 - l 



Kesin .. 6'8 8'7 



Proteids .. 5'1 6 6 



Insoluble matter .. 2-0 2-6 



Ash .. - 63 0"82 



The rubber was valued at Is lOd to Is 1 Id per 

 lb. in this country, with fine hard Para quoted 

 at 3s 5Jd per lb. This sample is an average 

 specimen of ordinary 11 Benin Lump " rubber. 



(2) " 161 C. Ugege tree and vine rubber." 

 Weight 7 lb. — The sample consisted of three 

 large and three small lumps, which were all 

 dark-coloured and dirty externally. Some of 

 the lumps were fairly dry throughout, whereas 

 others were white and very moist internally. 

 The rubber was rather weak and "dead"; it 

 had a very unpleasant odour. The results of 

 the chemical examination are given in this table: 



Percentage Rutiber as Composition of 



of received. dry rubber. 



Moisture ..65 — 



caoutchouc ... 5tr9 63'C 



Resin .. 19.7 21-1 



Proteids ... 7-2 7-7 



Insoluble matter .. 7'7 8 - 2 



Ash 



V67 



The rubber was valued at Is 6d per lb in this 

 country, with fine hard Para quoted at 3s 5£d 

 per lb. This is a sample of ordinary "dead" 

 Benin Lump rubber, containing a large per- 

 centage of resin. 



"Ttjbabikpan " Rubber (Clitandm Elastica.) — 

 The specimen, which weighed 5| lb., bore the 

 following label :— 



'No. 2. ' Ubabikpan 1 rubber from Ctlitandra, 

 elastica." It consisted of 18 " biscuits ,; of rub- 

 ber ranging from 3 to 6 inches in diameter, and 

 from f to 1£ inch in thickness. The biscuits, 

 which were covered with mould on arrival, 

 varied from brown to black externally, and 

 many of them were white and moist within 

 when freshly cut. The rubber was free from 

 stickiness, and exhibited good elasticity and 

 tenacity. The composition of the rubber was 

 found to be as follows : — 



Percentage 

 of 



Moisture 

 Caoutchouc 

 Resin 

 Proteids 

 Insoluble matter 



Rubber as Composition of 



received. dry rubber. 



5-2 — 



857 90-4 



3-8 4-0 



3-0 3-2 



2.3 2'4 



Ash 0-40 0-42 



The rubber was valued at 2s Sd to 2s lOd per 

 lb. in this country, with fine hard Para quoted 

 at 3s 5^d per lb. The results of the chemical 

 examination are very satisfactory, the percen- 

 tages of resin and proteids being low. The 

 rubber would be improved in quality if the 

 " biscuits" were made thinner and were more 

 thoroughly dried. 



Rubber of the "Maeodi " Vine. 



The specimen was labelled " Rubber from 

 ' Marodi.' A H Unwin, No. 269 " ; and weighed 

 5|oz. It was a thick, rough biscuit of brown 

 rubber, about 6 inches in diameter, and from 



3 to \ inch thick. The rubber was dry, well 

 prepared, and exhibited very satisfactory phy- 

 sical properties. A chemical examination fur- 

 nished the following results : — 



Percentage 

 of 



Moisture 

 Caoutchouc 

 Resin 

 Proteids 

 Insoluble matter 



Rubber as 

 received. 



2'4 

 78-8 

 6-2 

 9-3 

 43 



Composition of 

 dry rubber. 



80*8 

 6-3 

 9-5 

 4-4 



Ash .. 0-63 0-69 



The sample was valued at 2s 6d per lb. in 

 this country, with fine hard Para from South 

 America quoted at 3s Id per lb. 



This " Marodi " rubber is of very fair quality, 

 and consignments of similar character would be 

 readily saleable. The percentage of proteids is 

 rather high, and the amount of caoutchouc is 

 correspondingly reduced. 



The Forest Officer stated that botanical speci- 

 mens of the " Marodi ' vine had been for- 

 warded to Kew for determination, but it appears 

 that they arrived in such bad condition that 

 identification was impossible. 



RUBBER FROM THE GAMBIA. 



op Ficus Vogelii. 

 The results of a previous examination at the 

 Imperial Institute of a sample of the rubber of 

 Ficus Vogelii, Miq., from the Gambia, showed 

 that the product was of resinous nature, but 

 that it might be suitable for certain technical 

 purposes. Larger specimens were, therefore, 

 requested in order that manufacturing trials 

 might be made, and as a result the sampleB 

 dealt with in this report were forwarded for 

 iurther examination. 



Description of Samples. 



No. 1. From the Kommbo district. Weight, 

 81 lb.— The sample consisted of two large balls 

 of pale brown scrap rubber, which contained a 

 lair amount of vegetable impurity. The rubber 

 was slightly moist in places and obviously very 

 resinous ; its elasticity and tenacity were poor. 



No. 2. From the Bathurst district. Weight, 

 18 lb.— This consisted of a number of thick 

 cakes of rubber, which were very dark exter- 

 nally, but slightly moist and reddish- brown 

 within. The rubber obviously contained a large 

 amount of resin and exhibited poor elasticity 

 and tenacity. 



Results oj Examination. 

 The results of the chemical examination of 

 the rubbers are given on the following table : — 

 Percentage Samples as Composition of 



of received. dry rubber. 



No. 1, No. 2. No. 1. No. 2 

 Moisture ... 4-4 7-3 — — 



Caoutchouc ... &HV 61-2 60-6 66-9 



Resin .. 33'8 29-5 35'4 31 "8 



Proteids .. 1'4 12 IS 1% 



Insoluble matter.. 2-4 u\j 2'6 rj-9 



Ash 



0-5 



1.3 



1-4 



It will be seen from these figures that che two 

 specimens are similar in composition, but No. 2 

 is slightly superior in quality to No. f, 



