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Tensility is said to be increased by pulling the rubber about, and 
stretching it in various directions, which may have been done in one 
case and not in the other. I am inclined, however, to think that age 
of trees has most to do with the tensility. 
In view of the far higher prices obtained for Ceylon and Malay 
rubbers cfver Para, the statement that “the opinion of ‘the' manu- 
facturer is against the higher priced article" hardly seems valid. It 
rather depends on what kind of manufacturer is writing. I is easy 
to understand that Brazilian Para rubber may be just the thing re- 
quired by a manufacturer of one class of goods, while East Indian is 
preferred by another. 
RUBBER SALES. 
We have received a letter from HeCHT Levis and Khan stating 
that four cases of Para rubber sent from the Botanic Gardens, 
Singapore and made during the course of the experiments carried on 
last year and part of this year fetched “the excellent all round price 
of 6/ 2 per lb." This, at the date at which it was sold, February 20, 
is very satisfactory. Since that date, however, we hear of still higher 
rises in price, 6/6 and 6/7 having been obtained for Ceylon and 
Perak rubber. 
DEATH OF DR, C. WEBER. 
All interested in rubber will regret to hear of the sudden death 
of Dr. Carl Weber which took place on January 14th. Dr. 
Weber’s work on the latex of Castilloa was the most important 
contribution to the knowledge of the methods of preparation of that 
rubber, and we had hoped that he would do shortly for Para rubber 
what he has done for Castilloa, but these hopes have been sadly 
frustrated. 
SANSEVIERA ZEYLANICA. 
/^ n unusually large leaf of the Murva fibre plant, Sanscviera 
^tylanica, was brought to the office of the Botanic Gardens, Singa- 
P or e, lately. It was a sample of a large quantity of similar leaves 
found growing at Pulau Kukub, Johore, on the estate of SyED Mo- 
iiammed Alsagoff. 
The leaf measures 5 feet 2 inches in length and 2 inches across. 
The plants had in no way been cultivated, but had perhaps more or 
less accidentally got into remarkably good and rich soil. Among 
Sago palms. Sanseviera Zeylanica usually gives leaves of 3 or 4 
feet length at most, but it is clear that in good soil it can attain a 
much greater size. — Editor, 
