It is also grown largely in the
East Indies, vast and inexhaustible forests of the trees which yield it
being found in Assam, beyond the Ganges, although the quality can not
compare with that of the South American article.
This substance, variously known as cachuchu, caoutchouc, gum elastic,
and India-rubber, was first introduced into Europe in 1730, where it was
regarded merely as a curiosity, useful for erasing pencil marks, but
valueless for any practical use. Ships from South America brought it
over as ballast, but it was not until ninety years after its first
appearance in Europe that any effort was made to utilize it. About the
year 1820 it began to be used in France in the manufacture of suspenders
and garters, India-rubber threads being mixed with the materials used in
weaving those articles. It was also used in blacking and varnish, and
some years later, Mackintosh brought it into prominent notice by using
it in his famous water-proof coats, which were made by spreading a layer
of the gum between two pieces of cloth. The gum was thus protected from
the air, and preserved from injury.
Up to this time, it was almost an unknown article in the United States,
but in 1820 a pair of India-rubber shoes were exhibited in Boston.
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