橡胶的老家原在南美洲的亚马孙河谷。远在欧洲人到来之前,印第安人就已经懂得利用橡胶了。当年哥伦布第一次登上美洲大陆时,就曾目睹过许多印第安人在玩橡皮球。除橡皮球之外,印第安人还会制做各种精巧的橡胶工艺品和日常用品,如小塑像、茶杯、鞋子等。他们还把橡胶熔化后插在木棍的顶端,制成火把。这种火把很经烧,而且十分明亮。常在举行盛大节日晚会时使用。最先把橡胶介绍到欧洲的是法国人查尔斯·哥达迈。他曾随探险队到南美去进行科学考察。当他穿行在亚马孙河谷的密林中时,一个偶然的机会,遇到印第安人正在割胶。他立即对这种从未见过的 The rubbery home was originally in the Amazon valley of South America. The Indians knew how to use rubber long before Europeans arrived. When Columbus first boarded the Americas, he had seen many Indians play rubberballs. In addition to the rubber ball, the Indians will also produce a variety of sophisticated rubber crafts and daily necessities, such as small statues, cups, shoes and so on. They also melted rubber inserted in the top of the stick, made of torches. This torch burns very well and is very bright. Used often for grand galas. The first to introduce rubber to Europe was Frenchman Charles Gouda. He traveled with expeditions to South America for scientific expeditions. When he walked through the jungle in the Amazon Valley, by chance, encountered Indians tapping. He had never seen anything like this before