184 
VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. 
above the other, from the lower one of which flows a copious 
stream of milk-like juice, which, when collected in proper recip- 
ients, is speedily indurated by adding the juice of a vine, called 
by the Zapotecos hejuco de joamole, and always found coexistent 
with the india-rubber tree. By means of this process the white 
gum is produced. "When the milk is simply left to congeal in 
the rays of the sun, the gum becomes dark. The fluid known as 
oaowtchoucme, the specific gravity of which while in its liquid 
state is less than that of any other liquid known to chemists, 
but the vapor of which is so heavy that it may be poured from 
one vessel to another like water, is prepared from the juice of 
this tree in the laboratory, and is one of the best solvents for the 
rubber yet known. Taking half the number of .trees found 
within an area of one-fourth of a square mile, on the Uspanapa 
River, as the basis of an estimate, and allowing none to grow on 
the Pacific plains, there would be found not less than 2,000,000 
of india-rubber trees within the limits of the Isthmus, some of 
which yield four and five pounds of gum in a year. If from this 
prodigious number of trees, we suppose one-half only to be avail- 
able, and that a single pound per tree per annum be the average 
yield, we should then have 1,000,000 of pounds, which, at the 
present value of forty cents, would realize the sum of $400,000 
for this article alone. 
Among the spontaneous products is the bromelia pita, or ixtle 
of the Isthmus, which 'differs in some respectsrfrom the agave 
am&ricana of Europe, W\q pulque de maguey of Mexico, and the 
agave sisalana of Campeachy. Of this prolific plant there are 
numerous varieties, all yielding fibres which vary in quality 
from the coarsest hemp to the finest flax. Nor is the value of 
the plant diminished by its indifference to soil, climate, and 
season. The simplicity of its cultivation and the facility of ex- 
tracting and preparing its products, render it of universal use. 
From it is fabricated thread and cordage, mats, bagging, and 
clothing, and the hammocks in which the natives are born, re- 
pose, and die. The fibres of the pita are sometimes employed 
in the manufacture of paper, its juice is used as a caustic for 
wounds, and its thorns serve the Indians for needles and pins. 
The point generally selected for its cultivation is a thick forest, 
