1493_ Uncovering the New World Columbus Created - Charles C. Mann [264]
5 “so elastic”: Anghiera 1912:vol. 2, 204–05; Navagero, A. Letter to G. B. Ramusio, 12 Sep. 1525. In Fabié 1879:368–76, at 368–69 (friendship with Martire d’Anghiera).
6 “rather heavy”: Oviedo y Valdés 1851:165–66 (pt. 1, bk. 6, chap. 2); Covarrubias y Orozco 2006 (lack of word for “bounce,” see entries for, e.g., botar and bote). The first volume of Oviedo’s work appeared in 1535; later parts remained unpublished until the nineteenth century.
7 First scientific studies: Condamine 1751a, b.
8 Rubber heats when stretched (footnote): Gough 1805 (“lips,” 290).
9 Native rubber uses and methods: Author’s interviews and e-mail, John Hemming, Susanna Hecht; Woodroffe 1916:41–46 (tapping, processing); Pearson 1911:59–71 (description of tapping, processing); Johnson 1909:chap. 9 (description of tapping); Spruce 1908:vol. 1, 182–85, 511–15 (tapping); Warren 1851:16 (clothes).
10 Rubber fever: Anon. 1890; Johnson 1893; Coates 1987:29–31; Coslovsky 2005 (import figures, 14, 27).
11 Webster, “effective character”: Parton 1865:66.
12 Goodyear and vulcanization: Slack 2003 (“on the spot,” 107); Coates 1987:31–33, 36–37. Goodyear’s own account (1855) is unreliable.
13 Hancock and vulcanization: Woodruff 1958:chap. 1; Coates 1987:22–28, 33–38; Hancock 1857:91–110 (“little bits,” 96). Woodruff quotes two contemporaries who say that Hancock did analyze Goodyear’s samples. It is certainly true that Hancock was ungenerous—his otherwise useful autobiography (1857) doesn’t even mention Goodyear. Goodyear’s patent (No. 3633) and Hancock’s patent (No. 10027) are available at the websites of, respectively, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the British Library.
14 Expositions and Goodyear’s death: Slack 2003:161–63, 203–10, 230–37; Coates 1987:39–42 (“a postage stamp,” 41–42); Bonaparte ed. 1856:542–43.
15 Staudinger: Author’s interview, Coughlin; Ringsdorf 2004; Mülhaupt 2004; Morawetz 2002:86–98 (“propaganda,” 97).
16 Vulcanization chemistry: A good introduction is Sperling 2006:chaps. 8–9. My thanks to Bryan Coughlin for introducing this book to me.
17 H. brasiliensis quality, location: Ule 1905. Four other Amazonian species were also harvested: H. benthamiana, H. guianensis, Castilla (or Castilloa) elastica, and Castilla ulei. Except for C. elastica, they were less significant than H. brasiliensis. Some writers have suggested that for this reason one must talk of “rubber booms” in the plural, with Hevea and Castilla exerting different ecological and economic effects (Santos-Granero and Barclay 2000:chap. 2).
18 Overland vs. river route, rapids: Markham 1871. The waterfalls and rapids could only be negotiated by canoes, and even these frequently capsized, with great loss of life (Anon. 1901).
19 Neville Craig: Fleming 1922:118–19. My thanks to Jamie Owen and Julie Carrington of the Royal Geographic Society for looking up the date of his death and to Robert Charles Anderson for helping me with his Yale alumni records.
20 Craig on the Madeira: Craig 2007 (“theory,” 177; “cities,” 226; “Parentintins,” 237); Hemming 2008:201 (Parentintins). To be fair to Craig, the nasty anti-Italian crack was from a newspaper article; he just quoted it approvingly.
21 Keller’s feasts: Keller 1874: 74–77 (turtle), 80–81 (pirarucu and manatee, quote on 81).
22 Agricultural heartland: Mann 2008.
23 Fishing with strychnine: My thanks to Susanna Hecht for a description of this procedure, which is still used today.
24 Overexploitation of rubber trees: Schurz et al. 1925:17–21 (yield); Whitby 1920:5–6 (yield); Labroy 1913:39–47 (average daily production, 47); Pearson 1911:43–44 (overtapping); Smith 1879:108 (killing Belém trees). Average yield figures disguise the high variability among trees. The sources above measured unselected trees; yields are higher today. Belém do Pará means “Bethlehem of the Pará River,” the latter being the southern of the two main mouths of the Amazon. Until the twentieth century the city was generally called Pará; Belém is the modern name.
25