How did Charles-Marie de La Condamine contribute to the study of natural rubber?

Charles-Marie de La Condamine played a pivotal role in introducing natural rubber to the European scientific community during the 18th century. While participating in a French geographic expedition to South America starting in 1735, he conducted the first serious scientific documentation of rubber production and the methods used by Native Americans to manufacture items from the substance.12

La Condamine identified the material as the condensed juice of the Hevea tree, referring to it as "caoutchouc," a French adaptation of a native term meaning "weeping wood". In 1736, he sent samples of this material back to Europe. Although the substance was initially treated merely as a scientific curiosity, his detailed observations and the samples he provided brought the material to the attention of Europeans, laying the groundwork for its eventual industrial application.12