a (<>vea ted appearance, the cells containing Water and salt 
winch have become enclosed during coagulation. [ n texture it 
is very soft, spongy and very wet.” 
It is commonly stated also that the natives use urine to set the 
rubber. 
Another account of this plant has recently been published by 
Messrs. V ivifk and Deiss in the Bulletin Economique de l’lndo- 
No ' ¥’ ^ u S ust lS 99> which commences with a translation 
of Murton s description of the plant and its two supposed va- 
nehes without, however, any acknowledgment of the source of 
M ln if rma i IOn V The authors, after describing the method and 
difficulties of cutting down the liane and the ringing of the bark 
co e (ding the latex in bamboos and coagulating with salt or boil- 
ing, state that a pound, or a pound-and a-half is obtained from one 
bane and proceed to give an estimate as to the returns which 
may be expected from a plantation in the following terms 
, Be reproduction de cetteliane est facile. Elle laisse loin der- 
mic elle an point de vue de la vigueur et de la croissance toutes 
les out res sortes. 1 lantee dans un terrain defriche elle forme au 
bout cl un an une brousse epaisse. Les resultats de croissance 
be vigueur et de rendement rationnel du Willughbeia semble- 
rment demon trer qu’il est preferable d’en faire des plantations 
pJutot que de chercher a acdimater des arbres etrangers qui de- 
mand, nt quuize ans et au de la avant de pouvoir donner leurs 
premiers resultats, toujours douteux dans de nouveaux habitats 
wm pl ?^ tlon de 500 acres dans laquelle on planterait 100,000 
Willughbeia reviendrait a la tin de la 2 e annee, c’est a dire a 
r epoque ou 1 on T pourrait E exploiter a soixante-quinze mille 
trancs environ. Le rendement doit estime a 1 kilogramme par 
pied. Le pnx de cette sorte de caoutchouc est de 6 francs 2S a 
0 fy. 50 en Europe par kilogramme.” 
I am certainly quite unable to endorse the statements as to 
the 1 apichty of growth of Willughbeia. Raised either from seed 
or cuUmg, it takes a good deal more than one year to form a 
11c k bush. I lants grown in the Botanic Gardens for about six 
01 seven years have indeed made low bushes with very slender 
stems, while plants in their natural habitat in the jungle have at 
L ie end of one year thrown up single slender stems not a quarter 
01 an inch through. ^ 
The return at the end of the second year is estimated at a kilo- 
gramme a plant ; i.e., 2,204 lbs., yet a liane as collected by natives 
nr 6n e fiTf leS of n faU . slze a £ d P^bably 4 inches through and 50 
or 60 feet long only gives r lb. to ijlbs. It would indeed be sur- 
prising if the plant itself at the end of the second year weighed a 
kilogramme. From my experience of it I should say the whole 
thing would not weigh a kilogramme, twigs, leaves and all. Fur- 
the! ci lticism on tins paper is perhaps unnecessary except to point 
out that the authors give no details as to methods of cultiva- 
te"!’ or extraction, of the rubber, and that the price of 
Willughbeia rubber is always lower than that of the Para 
rubber, and is generally quoted at about one and six pence a 
