74 TlMEHRl. 
wounds. The best milk-yielding tree I examined had the 
marks of twelve rows of cups which had already been put 
on this season. The rows were only six inches apart, 
and in each row there were six cups, so that the total 
number of cuts inflicted within three months amounted 
to seventy -two. It grew close to a gapo, only eight 
inches above high-tide mark, and, being a vigorous tree, 
the cups were usually well filled ; but with two years or 
so of such treatment the tree would probably be perma- 
nently injured. It has been supposed that the quality of 
the milk is better in the dry season than during the rains. 
Such is the case with some vegetable products, but as 
regards india-rubber there ought not I think to be any 
appreciable difference. In the rainy season the milk 
probably contains a greater proportion of water, but on 
the other hand I am of opinion that a larger quantity of 
milk flows from the tree. No doubt the dry season is 
the most suitable for caoutchouc collection, although 
wherever a plantation is formed with proper care, tap- 
ping may certainly be always carried on where the 
caoutchouc is found." 
There are two other methods adopted in tapping, 
which are chiefly confined to the upper Amazon and its 
tributaries. Both are exactly on the same principle, the 
materials used being only a little different. The lower 
outside bark of the tree is cleaned off to a height of about 
three feet. Beneath, a gutter or raised border of clay 
is plastered on to the trunks, enclosing one-half of the 
entire circumference. Cuts arc thickly made in the bark 
above this, from which the milk flows down to the gutter, 
whence it is conveyed into a calabash conveniently 
