ON  THE  EXTRACTION  OF  CAOUTCHOUC. 
543 
the  Brazils,  generally  averages  sixty-five  to  sixty-seven  feet  in 
height,  frequently  reaching  forty  to  fifty  feet  before  a  single 
branch  is  given  off.  The  diameter  varies  from  thirty  to  f)rty 
inches. 
These  dimensions,  however,  are  frequently  met  with  in  trees 
which  inhabit  the  tropical  forests,  but  the  peculiarity  of  its  foliage, 
each  leaf  being  composed  of  three  elongated  leaflets,  together 
with  the  abundance  of  milky  juice  it  yields  upon  incision,  easily 
distinguishes  this  tree  from  all  others  growing  around  it. 
Nothing  could  be  easier  than  the  method  of  collecting  and  pre- 
paring caoutchouc.  The  workman  goes  early  in  the  morning  into 
the  forest,  provided  with  a  hatchet,  a  calabash,  and  a  quantity 
of  soft  clay.  Arriving  at  the  foot  of  a  Siphonia,  he  fastens 
round  its  base,  by  means  of  the  clay,  a  small  glazed  dish,  re- 
sembling in  shape  a  swallow's  nest,  and  with  his  hatchet  severs 
the  bark  immediately  above,  the  dish.  The  milky  sap  immediate- 
ly exudes,  and  is  collected  in  the  dish  below.  When  a  sufficient 
number  of  trees  have  been  treated  in  this  way,  the  workman 
collects  the  contents  of  the  little  dishes  in  his  calabash  and  re- 
turns home  with  his  booty. 
The  quantity  of  sap  yielded  by  one  tree  naturally  varies,  but 
on  an  average,  twenty  trees  yield  two  pints ;  and,  when  well 
managed,  the  same  trees  will  yield  daily  the  same  quantity  during 
a  period  of  some  months. 
A  traveller  tells  me,  that  being  on  the  borders  of  the  Amazon 
river,  he  stopped  a  day  in  the  cottage  of  a  caoutchouc  collector, 
and  about  mid-day  he  saw  his  host  returning  with  a  calabash, 
which  contained  eight  pints  of  siphonia  milk,  a  quantity  sufficient 
for  the  manufacture  of  ten  pairs  of  shoes.  His  daughters,  who 
were  less  practiced  than  himself,  had  during  the  period  collected 
four  pints,  which  is  the  average  quantity  for  one  workman.  I 
have  mentioned  shoes,  because  in  that  form,  or  as  round  and 
egg-shaped  bottles,  tubes,  and  sheets,  the  larger  quantity  of 
India-rubber  is  still  exported  from  the  Brazils.  The  bottles  are 
made  by  dipping  a  ball  of  clay,  fastened  to  the  end  of  a  stick, 
into  the  fresh  juice,  and  immediately  afterwards  holding  it  in  a 
thick  smoke,  produced  by  the  combustion  of  oleaginous  seeds. 
When  the  first  layer  has  partially  solidified,  others  are  applied 
in  the  same  manner,  till  a  sufficient  thickness  has  been  obtained. 
