44 
It will be seen that important commercial uses are indicated for 
these seeds which are at present a waste product. 
1 trust that the further action suggested in the Report may be 
taken to put the seeds on the English market. I he Imperia. In- 
stitute is taking steps to bring them under the notice o\ brokers and 
merchants, and will be glad to be of any further assistance to the 
Government of the Straits Settlements in the matter. 
1 am, &c., 
WYNDHAM R. DUN STAN, 
Director. 
The Under Secretary of State, Colonial Office. 
IMPERIAL INSTITUTE. 
(South Kensington, London, S. vv.) 
Report on the Constituents of the Seeds of Hevea Brasiheniis and 
their Commercial uses by Professar Wyndham R- Dunstan, M A 
F R S . Director 
A consignment ol the seed ot the Para Rubber tree ( Hevea 
Brasiliemis ) was forwarded to the Imperial Institute by the As- 
sistant Superintendent of Forests and Gardens, Penang, at the re- 
quest of the Superintendent of Government Plantations, Selangor, 
and is referred to in a letter dated i6th October, 1902. 
A sample of decorticated Para rubber seeds was subsequently 
sent to the Imperial Institute by Mr. L. WKAY, Curator of the Perak 
Museum, Straits Settlements, together with a covering letter dated 
15U1 February, 1903, and a third sample, consisting of meal pre- 
pared from these seeds by a local planter, was forwarded to the 
Imperial Institute by the Acting Superintendent of Forests and 
Gardens, Penang, together with a letter dated 17th April, 1903. 
In the letters accompanying these samples it was stated that 
large areas in the Straits Settlements and the Malay Native States 
have now been planted with Hevea hrasiliensis , and that in a feu 
years large supplies of this seed will be available. It was therefore 
considered desirable that the seed should be examined in order to 
determine its commercial value and to ascertain especially to what 
purposes the oil and meal prepared from it could be applied. It is 
suggested in the letter dated 1 6th October, 1902, that the oil might 
be used in the preparation of varnish and that the residue might 
be used as a cattle food. 
CHEMICAL EXAMINATION OF SEEDS. 
These samples have been submitted to chemical examination in 
the Scientific and Technical Department of the Imperial Institute 
with the following results : — 
The kernels constitute about 50 per cent, by weight of the whole 
seeds. On extraction with light petroleum, they yielded 42.3 per 
