February i, 1889.I THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
527 
three years. Assuming that it was all used tor 
manufacturing purposes, it leaves 204, 829,436 pounds, 
or over t-3 per cent as the average annual consump- 
tion of rice as food. 
In England it is quite extensively used in makiDg 
boer, but to what extent is not definitely known. 
Duiing the pe iod from 1850 to 18G0 this country 
exported auuually an average of one-fourth of I ho 
production, while at present the exports of homo- 
grown rice are less than three-tenths of 1 per cent, 
of the average annual yield. 
That fact lends color to tho statement of a lead- 
ing factor that "rice is the missing link required to 
give the United States a stronger hold upon the 
commerce of the world.'' It is certainly true that 
we buy sugar and coffee extensively in Central and 
South Americau countries, and that those countries 
obtain their rice supply through European factors 
in foreign vessels. We find that the exports of 
Indian and other sorts of rice cleaned in England 
and sent to countries the exports of which belong 
absolutely to the United States by geographical po- 
sition, averaged 180,054,086 pounds annually for the 
past five years, or 31 1,000,000 pounds beyond the present 
domestic consumption of this country. 
Besides the above-named shipments England exported 
during the same period an average of 170,000,000 
pounds of rice yearly, of which a good proportion 
shou d be included in the commerce of this country. 
This trade in rice can be had if uncloaned rice is 
admitted duty free, which advantage would develop 
a now industry in cleaning rice in this country and 
give American vessels employment in carrying rice 
from the Eist to be cleaned here instead of in 
Eugland, afterwards to be transported to South 
America and the West Indies and exchanged for 
coffee and sugar to be brought back in the same 
vessels to supply our own wants and possibly those 
of other countries. 
The following table shows the exports of rice from 
England for three years, and emphasizes the feasi- 
bility of the proposed policy: — 
EXPORTS RICH FROM ENGLAND. 
1887. 1886. 1885. 
Destination — Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. 
Went Indies 113,11 3, 600 161,214,400 156,421,440 
South America 20,977,020 26,002,400 22,830,080 
moor Countries UM),(«7,.">J0 15n,25!),200 170,692,480 
Prom the "foregoing it is evident that rice is of 
growing commercial importance to this couutry; that 
frre uucleaned rice means doubling, if not trebling, 
home consumption, without serious injury to domestic 
growers. It ia no wonder that a combination of capi- 
talists is being made, looking to making this country 
a leading rather than an insignificant factor in the 
distribution of tho rice crops of the East. Cheaper 
rice is the shortest road to making the United States 
tin- largest consumer in Kurope ,.r America. — Arm rira.i 
(irocir. 
ON THE TRUE VALUE OF OUTTAPERCHAS 
SUPPLIED BY THE -MIMUSOPS" AND 
THE " PAYENA " FAMILY OF THE 
SAPOTA0BA3. 
By Messrs. Eiiot-ARn Ebsi kei. and Fa. Schlaoden- 
IIAUFFKN, 
Tho question of tho guttapercha supply beingstill 
pending iu face of tho increasing destruction of tho 
Itonaniha (Vulfa in tho Suudn Isles, and the imminent 
disappear in c i mm I lie forests of that vegetable, it 
■cemo'l to us that it was of great Interest tpraU attuntion 
to the similar products obtained from tho numerous 
representatives uf tho Sn/mtari •. 
Some years ago we reoeived from Mr. daubcrl, a 
Frenchman who ioeouiiQ a minister to Menelik King of 
Uhoa, and M. Hummel fHochatLa good deal of a 
gutta proceeding— ftl witnnssed by tho botanioal 
sample* wo bad in hand — from the Mint kso/is X-ltim/irr. 
Besides, we received from an officer of the French Navy, 
who had bo"ii living in the Sun, la Isles, another kind 
of gutta, which »c a^sic,ll with certainty to tho I'ai/eiut. 
Since a prod u t identic illy similar to the latter w. is 
supplied to us abundantly by Mr. Thomas Christ) , tho 
well-known learned London druggist, who told us 
that he had several tons of same in stock. The first 
gutta (from Mimusops) which I shall call Abyssinian, 
appears iu the aspect of a hard dirty-brown ir/awi ; but 
not as dark as the genuine gntta (from li&hdn&ra 
Gutta) of the trade. It is easily marked with the 
finger nail, and if kept in the hands in softens readily 
and sticks fast to the skin ; but adhesion does not 
increase with heat. 
The other one (from Sunda Isles) appears as a. 
white-yellow mass, equally hard, more easily marked 
with nails than the former, at least, more adherent 
to the hands which softened it by their own heat. 
All the samples Mr, Thomas Christy received 
assumed the form of round balls, weighing about 150 
to 200 grammes, rather irregular and flattened on 
some places, so as to be like a recently picked potato. 
From the physical description we now pass to the 
chemical examination of these products.* 
I. Abyssinian gutta (from the Mimusops Schimperi ; 
and M. Kummel), (Hochst). 
We treated the material first with tepid water, and 
afterwards with boiling water, iu order to separate 
as well as possible the vegetable rubbish and other 
impurities. Allowing then the liquid to cool, and 
strongly stirring the greyish sediment, we have been 
able to fix to the agitator a material of the same 
colour, more or less elastic, quite differeut to the 
non-adhesive clotty sediment which remaiued at the 
bottom of the capsule. 
Notwithstanding the various treatments repeated in 
hot water and extended stirring, we did not succeed 
in agglutinating that last part. The cause of resis- 
tance to plasticity was the large quantiiy of fixed 
salts contained in the sediment, since an analysis 
made on 0 - 627 of the material shows us 0127 of ashes. 
The sediment which falls at the bottom of the water . 
contains, according to these data: — 
Organic matter 72'56 
Ashes 27-4J 
. WO' oo" 
The adhesive and elastic matter, of an earth' ,-brown 
colour, was then worked up with the finger? j llt0 « n 
homogeneous mass. This offers some ana' l0 „,. w ;t n 
the common gutta as to external appe/ arauce . j t 
softens in water, but keeps a very gres t elasticity, 
and remains exceedingly adhesive. Ou account of 
these defects it can never be used in place of good 
commercial gutta, without previous v JO difications or 
transformations. 
Many trials were made in order to cause these 
inconveniences to disappear, or, at 'least to decrease 
but always unsuccessfully; sudder. changes of tem- 
perature and pressure gave negative results We 
then made an attempt at mixing it with ordinary 
gutta, in the hope that the excess at elasticity and 
adhesiveness might be attenuated by the p'asticity 
of gutta of the best quality. 
For that purpose wo made two m ixtures :— The first 
one (A) with one part of Abyssin', an gutta and two 
parts of commercial gutta; and '„he other (B) with 
equal parts of each. We gave r,oth of them to the 
manager of Messrs. Berger-Levr aulfs printing office 
and asked him to lot us know if, m th j s Btat0f tno 
new product might be used i;, the trade; for in- 
stance, in taking casts of cop-^er-plato engravings in- 
tended for eleetro-tvping. T\i 0 experiments gave ex- 
cellent results. In order to doteot the cause of such 
a difference between these two varieties of gotta, we 
sought how it behaved towards some chemical agents. 
Our first trials were made, of course, with the solvents 
like alcohol, ether, sulpiride of carbon, etc., etc. 
While alcohol does uo'„ dissolve common gotta, the 
matter subjected to tho analysis was dissolved ut the 
rato of 12 per cent. Tho solutiou obtained with the 
boiling liquid is colourless. It leaves, after cooling, 
a white deposit of a mamaillated aspect, but without 
crystalline appearance. The microscope disOOYen 
• In connection with this subject, our renders should 
refer back to tho artiolo ou pnoudo-gu'.U^ iu tb. 
Indiarubb*r Journal for September, 1865. 
