177 
producing rubber and bind weed become exhausted ? Several 
trips to Madagascar and two voyages to Brazil for the purpose of 
exploring the forests may permit me to express an opinion on this 
subject. I believe that certain species wilf disappear in Africa, 
Madagascar and Brazil— in fact, in all the regions producing rub- 
ber now exploited. 
Landolphias will disappear both in Madagascar and on the con- 
tinent of Africa, by reason of the barbarous methods of extraction 
employed by the natives, which consist in tapping the bind weed 
close to the place where it issues from the ground, dividing it 
afterwards into sections about 20 inches in length, from which the 
milk is drained by placing the sections upright in a gutter of split 
bamboo supported above the receiving pail by two wooden forks. 
The Euphorbiacea intisy will also be exterminated in the southern 
part of Madagascar. The intisy yields a milky juice, as rich as that 
furnished by the Hevea brasiliensis , but it is impossible to obtain 
it pure, as the natives allow the juice to flow to the ground, where 
it at once makes an amalgam elastic only in name. Besides, in 
their greed to obtain the maximum yield, the natives do not hesi- 
tate to tap even the tubercles of the roots, thus killing in one mo- 
ment what nature has taken a century to produce. 
Other varieties will also disappear. But there is one not indi- 
genous to either Africa or Madagascar, which will not. It lives in 
the forests which are included between 8° north latitude and 
south latitude. It is a native of Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, 
Colombia and Venezuela. The species is called Seringa in the 
Brazilian tongue. The botanical name is Hevea , one of the large 
family of the Euphorbiacea which comprises a dozen varieties. The 
product of these trees is known on the markets of Europe by the 
name of Para fin, from the town of Para, near the mouth of the 
Amazon, through which all the' gum passes. The denomination 
Para fin is, however, incorrect. The State of Para produces some 
rubber, but the greater part comes from the district of Amazonas, 
from Peru, etc. 
In these countries, the Hevea has fortunately been protected. 
The extractors have every incentive to preserve the trees from 
injury, in order to insure an annual yield, which I estimate at from 
§290 to $347 for one hundred days of actual labour. Some affirm 
that the gatherers average from $8 to $10 per day. This estimate 
is exaggerated. The exploitation of the Heveas and other rubber 
trees of South America supports some 100,000 people. One can 
judge from this of the importance of this industry. The rubber tree 
is carefully treated here. Already the two States of Brazil, Para 
and Amazonas, have regulations for the distribution of lands. Both 
have taken measures to protect their natural resources, in order to 
preserve the immense revenue obtained from them. Manaos, the 
capital of the State of Amazonas, a town of 60,000 inhabitants, 
alone recives 48,000,000 francs ($>9,264,000) revenue from the 
export duty. 
I can affirm with certainty that the States of South America includ- 
ed within these latitudes have inexhaustible riches, if they continue 
