vinces of Para and the Amazon. In less quantities the
seringueira is also to be found in Ceara, Rio Grande do Norte and
Maranhao.

The seringueira prevailed chiefly near the water, in swampy places, or in
places inundated when the river was high. Never was the tree to be found
at a distance away from water.

The height of the seringueira varies from 25 ft. to 50 ft. Its diameter
is seldom more than 35 in. Its leaf is composed of three elongated
leaflets, smooth-edged and complete in themselves. The seed is
smooth-skinned, and of a reddish tone. The fruit consists of a
well-rounded wooden capsule enclosing three cells which contain white
oily almonds not disagreeable to eat. From the almonds an oil of a light
red colour, not unlike the colour of old port wine, can be extracted.
That oil can be substituted for linseed oil, and has the further
advantage of not desiccating so quickly. Mixed with copal and turpentine
it gives a handsome varnish. It can be used advantageously in the
manufacture of printing-ink and soap. So that every part of the
seringueira can be put to some use or other.

Among the other more important trees which produce rubber may be
mentioned the _Siphonia brevifoglia_, the _Siphonia brasiliensis_,
_Siphonia rhytidocarpa_, and the _Siphonia lutea_, all found chiefly in
the State of Para. In other parts of Brazil grow the _Ficus
anthelmintica_, the _Ficus doliaria_ (or _gameilleira_), the _Ficus
elastica_, _Ficus indica_, _Ficus religiosa_, _Ficus radula_, _Ficus
elliptica_, _Ficus prinoides_, the _Plumeria phagedenica_, the _Plumeria
drastica_, the _Sorveira_ or _Collophora utilis_, and the _Mangabeira_ or
_Harncornia speciosa_.

At present we shall be chiefly interested in the seringueira (_Siphonia
elastica_).

The collection of the latex from the seringueira and the subsequent
process of coagulation were simple enough. A seringueiro, or
rubber-collector, started from his hut early every morning carrying with
him a small steel axe or pick, the head of which was 3 in. long and
shaped like a bird's beak; a tin bucket, and some _barro_--soft clay
which had been soaked in water. He walked along the _estrada_ or track
which he had cleared for himself, leading from one rubber tree to the
next. There may be twenty, thirty, fifty or more rubber trees that have
been tapped on one estrada, according to the district and the activity of
the seringueiro. In the case of a new tree a collar of the fibre of
bur