349 
Chap. XXI.—B. P.J INDIA-RUBBER. 
his pail being now quite full of milk from the tree, 
which has to be emptied into the larger vessels, in 
which it is carried to the workshop. A tree four 
feet in diameter and twenty to thirty feet to the 
first branches will yield twenty gallons of milk, each 
gallon producing two pounds, and if rich, two pounds 
two ounces of good dried rubber. An industrious 
man is able to obtain about twenty-five gallons 
of milk a day. In the evening the milk is pressed 
through a wire sieve, so as to exclude all the im¬ 
purities, before it is put into the barrels. When the 
barrels are full, the real manufacture of the rubber 
commences. This is generally intrusted to the most 
skilful of the party. The best manner of converting 
the milk into rubber is by mixing with it the juice 
of a certain vine, termed “ Achuca ” by the natives, 
which has the singular property of coagulating it within 
the space of five minutes. This vine, which is con¬ 
jectured by Dr. Seemann to be an Apocynea , generally 
abounds in the woods, and has fine large white flowers 
like a convolvulus. Bundles of it are collected, and 
each stick is well beaten with a piece of wood, and 
soaked in water, which is strained through a cloth, 
and about a pint of it is well mixed with every 
gallon of the milk. This is done in a large tin pan, 
in which it coagulates quickly, forming a soft mass 
floating in a brown fluid, and smelling like fresh 
cheese. This mass is slightly pressed by hand, 
placed on a board, and then rolled out with a piece 
of heavy wood. An iron roller 150 pounds in weight 
has been used with advantage for this purpose. By 
