the trouble to collect these nuts, he nearly always prefers to use 
wood chips which give him less trouble to prorure. 
The fire having been made, and a large stream of hot smoke 
pouring out of the chimney, the operator seats himself on a small 
Stool by the side of it. The latex is contained in a basin placed at 
hand. In his right hand he holds a paddle-shaped piece of wood ; 
in his left hand a small calabash. Dipping the calabash into the 
basin of latex he pours a small quantity over the paddle, which he 
then revolves in the smoke issuing from the chimney. That having 
dried in a layer over the paddle he repeats the operation. In 
course of time a “ball" or "biscuit" of solid rubber is thus 
formed. In some parts, where it is the custom to manufacture v^ry 
large balls or " pallets ” an arrangement is made by means of a 
pivot to rotate the ball over the chimney. The wooden core is 
withdrawn through a slit made in the “ biscuit", or simply drtwn 
out in the case of the " pellet. ’’ 
The latex of a tree named " Macaranduba " (Mimusops-elata) and 
more often that of a tree named locally ‘ A napa " is sometimes 
used to adulterate that of the Hevea. In both cases the adulteration 
is extremely prejudicial to the quality of rubb r produced. 
Three distinct qualities of rubber are manufactured in this dis-. 
trict named "Fine," "Entrefine", and "Sernamby" respectively. 
“ Fine rubber has been well smoked, and is free from putrefac- 
tion. “Entrefine' rubber has been either burnt whilst being 
smoked, or has been insufficiently smoked, and has therefore 
putrefied. It is due to carelessness on the part of the workman, 
which it should be possible to avoid. " Sernamby " is the "negro- 
head of commerce, and consists of scraps, mixed with dirt, or 
strips peeled off the bark of the tree and mixed with impurities of 
sorts. 
A very important factor, from the merchant's point of view, in 
the rubber trade, is the loss of weight that is constantly taking 
place in raw rubber. This loss is extremely variable, and a con- 
signee has to place the greatest faith in the consignor that the 
invoiced weight of rubber has really been shipped as more or less 
shortage invariably takes place. Moreover, the shrinkage in weight 
is so variable that no exact figures can be quoted by which it may 
be calculated. The cause being the evaporation of the water con- 
tained, it varies according to the quality, being greater in the case 
of the porous "Sernamby" than in the firmer "Fine" rubber. 
The longer rubber is kept and the larger the pieces the less it loses 
in weight Dry "Sertao" rubber' coming from distant parts 
whence shipments are only made once a year will lose only about 
i per cent, between the estates and Manaos ; whereas newly-made 
rubber coming from close at hand will lose as much as lo percent. 
As the means of communication get more rapid, and the rubber 
reaches Manaos sooner after being manufactured the tendency to 
lose in weight becomes larger. Between Manaos and foreign 
markets a loss of 4 per cent, may be taken as an approximation of 
the average loss of weight. 
A machine designed on the principle of a cream separator to 
