January, 1909.] 7 



Sheltered in the ravines, and generally- 

 near the edge of a water course, tree 

 ferns add their feathery beauty to the 

 leafy labyrinth of the jungle, notwith- 

 standing the low elevation of 300 feet 

 above sea-level. 



Clustering the more open parts, and 

 fiiuging the banks of rivers and streams, 

 are groves of tall, graceful palms, includ- 

 ing Attatea cohune and the spiny Acro- 

 comia; while now and then a royal palm 

 (Oredoxa regia) rears his noble head 

 over legions of lesser kind. (The writer- 

 is informed by a friend, who is more 

 than an amateur botanist, that he has 

 identified fourteen indigenous specimens 

 of palm on the Isthmus of Tebuantepec.) 

 Interlacing with fantastic festoons the 

 upper branches of big trees, or reaching, 

 like the halyards of a ship, to the earth, 

 are great lianas, or climbing vints, 

 which, when in flower, display enchant- 

 ing colour effects, clothing the tops of 

 the highest trees with brilliant mantles 

 of purple, yellow, and crimson. These 

 seem to be made up chiefly of representa- 

 tives of the Leguminosce and Bignonia- 

 cece. Many trees, again, are adorned 

 with a profusion of epiphytic growth — 

 ferns, bromelias and orchids. Amongst 

 the latter may be found Chysis bractes- 

 cens, with its beautiful, waxy-white 

 sepals and petals, and labellum tinged 

 with yellow ; the pretty and fragrant 

 Epidendrum atropurpureum, E. cochlea- 

 Lum, E. alatum, E. radiatum, and E. 

 stamfordxanum ; a species of Oncidium 

 very similar in foliage and inflorescence 

 to the well-known 0. cebolieta (found 

 at higher altitudes in Mexico) ; 0. lurv 

 dum, 0. sphacelatum, one or two showy 

 species of Stanhopea, and a number of 

 other genera of merely botanical interest. 

 Four indigenous species of vanilla, 

 including V. planijolia, also have their 

 habitat in these forests. No attempts 

 have been made, however, to cultivate 

 the plant here. 



The writer desires to acknowledge his 

 indebtedness to Mr. James C. Harvey, 

 of Plantaeion La Buena Ventura, Estado 

 de Vera Cruz, for much of the informa- 

 tion and data embodied in the fore- 

 going, as well as for valuable personal 

 assistance rendered in connection with 

 the subject.— Tropical Life, September 

 1908, Vol., IV., No. 9. 



Saps and Exudations- 



THE RUBBER CREEPERS CARPO- 

 DINUS LANDOLPHIOIDES (HALL. 

 P.) STAFF AND LA NDOLPH1A 

 DA WEI STAFF. 



(By E. Gilg in Nolizbiatt kgl, bot. Otns. 

 Berlin, 1 Sept. 1908, p. 69.) 



Abstracted by J. C. Willis. 



Dr. Gilg finds that Landolphia Dawei, 

 found in Uganda by Dawe, and in San 

 Thome by Chavelier, also occurs in 

 Kamerun, the German colony of West 

 Africa. This species gives the best 

 African rubber. He also finds that 

 Carpodinus landolphioides occurs there. 



RUBBER INDUSTRY OF JAPAN. 



The following particulars relative to 

 the rubber industry of Japan have been 

 received by the Board of Trade from the 

 British Commercial Attache at Yoko- 

 hama (Mr. E. F. Crowe) :— 



The Osaka Asahi publishes an article 

 dealing with the proposed establish- 

 ments of two rubber factories, in which 

 British, French, and Japanese capital 

 will be invested. From this account it 

 appears that a Frenchman who is in- 

 terested in various other enterprises in 

 Japan has arranged a combination with 

 two British companies. One factory 

 will be situated at Osaka and will make 

 tyres and other rubber goods, while a 

 smaller factory will be built at Kobe for 

 the manufacture of rubber tubes for 

 feeding bottles. The idea is to start 

 with a moderately small capital of 

 £75,000 ; as the business develops it is 

 proposed to increase the capital and to 

 start exporting rubber goods to China, 

 Korea and other Eastern markets 



At the present moment there are six 

 rubber companies in Japan with a total 

 capital of £45,000. Of these the oldest 

 and largest is the Japan Rubber Com- 

 pany of Tokio, started in 1900 and 

 having a capital of £18,000. 



The others are as follows : — 



Name. Town, Capital. 



Tokio Rubber Co. Tokio £8,000 



Meiji Rubber Co. Tokio £7 000 



Sakatsuchi Rubber Co. Tokio £8 000 



Japan Rubber Ball Co. Osaka £2,000 



Imperial Rubber Co. Osaka £2,000 



The raw material, on which there is no 

 duty, is all imported from abroad. The 

 following statistics show the quantity 



