February i, 1902.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER V/ORLD 



137 



AN AMERICAN REPORT ON GUTTA-PERCHA. 



THE report of Dr. Penoyer L. Sherman, Jr., the special 

 agent of the Philippine forestry bureau detailed last 

 year to visit the Straits Settlements, Java, etc., to 

 gather information regarding Gutta-percha, has been 

 published as an appendix to^ the latest report of the United 

 States Philippine commission [mentioned in the last India 

 Rubber World— page 98.] 



He reports that the principal supply of the Gutta-percha of 

 commerce comes from points which only wild natives will or 

 can penetrate, and the preparation and marketing of the Gutta 

 — up to its arrival at Singapore — is in the hands of the Chinese, 

 who carefully guard all the secrets of the trade. He gained the 

 impression that the supplies now being " worked " are rapidly 

 diminishing, the quality decreasing, and prices increasing. 



The annual output of Gutta-percha has increased but very little within 

 the past five years, when the high prices have enticed more native gath- 

 erers into the forest. Yet even then the demand has been so out of pro- 

 portion to the supply that even the Chinese have had to resort more and 

 more to adulteration. Consequently, of the cheaper grades there seems 

 to be plenty on hand, but of the best variety there is not more than a ton 

 all told [at Singapore, in September, igoi], with a demand for 600 or 

 700 tons. From long experience the Chinese are very clever in mixing, 

 coloring, and Jadulterating the finer grades with the cheaper ones, al- 

 though they apparently have nothing but smell, feel, and color to go by. 

 And just as the natives guard the secret of the different kinds of Gutta- 

 percha trees and their locality, so do the Chinese hide their methods of 

 preparing Guttapercha for foreign markets. With the supply coming 

 from different countries and trees, and changed and adulterated in dif- 

 ferent ways, it is no wonder the kinds and varieties of Gutta-percha for 

 sale in Singapore are very large. Of the twenty-five different varieties, the 

 following table gives the principal ones, with their approximate amount 

 of Gutta, and their prices [in Mexican silver, for September, 1901J as 

 given by Low How Kim & Co., one of the largest Gutta-percha dealers 



in Singapore : 



Per cent. Price 



Kind. Variety. Gutta.* per Picul. 



"Reds" Pahang 78 $260 



Bulongan 69 225 



Sundek Bagan 57 210 



Serapong 56 180 



Sarawak 85 



White Treganor 52 85 



Pahang 90 



Jambui 4q 



Mixed reds. .Sarawak 1 6r no 



Sarawak 2 56 90 



Sarawak 3 52 70 



Sarawak 4 40 



Reboiled . . . Padang 50 90 



Penang 90 



Siak u 



[•These percentages are stated by Dr. Obach. Dr. Sherman writes; •' As the 

 percentage of Gutta in a sample of pure Gutta-percha from the species Dichopsis 

 £utta is generally Ss to 90, it is certain that the best commercial variety is far from 

 being pure. "J 



The grading as here given has been changed from year to year, the 

 names simply signifying some peculiarity of the Gutta-percha and the 

 places from whence the different varieties are supposed to come. There 

 is no connection whatever between the different kinds [as described com- 

 mercially] and the species of the trees. This lack of connection has 

 greatly retarded the scientific study of Guttapercha for, when the pro- 

 ducts of two different kinds of trees are mixed, there is no known way 

 of separating or identifying them. 



A table is given of imports of Gutta-percha into Singapore 

 for 1900, and also of the exports. Two grades are given — cor- 

 responding evidently toGutta-percha and (Jutta-jelatongfPon- 

 tinak) — the totals being as follows, in pounds : 



Imports. E,xports. 



Gutta-percha .. 9,875,533j-3 12,986,600 



Inferior Gutta 15,683,866% 12,790,000 



Total 25,559,400 25,776,600 



These figures compare very closely with returns printed al- 

 ready in The India Rubber World, which has stated the ex- 

 port of true Gutta-percha from Singapore in 1900 at 13,684,1331/3. 

 pounds, as against 12,986,600 pounds above. 



From the tables it is seen that Gutta-percha is divided by the statisti- 

 cians into Gutta-percha proper and inferior Gutta, anything under an 

 import price of $15 [Mexican, per picul of 133)^5 pounds] coming under 

 the latter head. This new method of dividing the Gutta-percha into a 

 high and low grade was devised in order to avoid the misleading figures 

 of the Guttapercha trade, which resulted formerly when the great quan- 

 tity of inferior Gutta, which is in truth no Gutta at all, was considered 

 a real Gutta-percha. 



This grouping into renl and inferior Gutta-percha gave an unique 

 clue to the Chinese practice in Singapore, for it can be seen that in 

 1900, for example, 23,000 more piculs [3,111,067 pounds, to be exact] 

 more of Gutta-percha were exported than were imported, while at the 

 same time 21,000 piculs [2,893,867 pounds] less of inferior Gutta were im- 

 ported than exported. As the average price of the inferior Gutta is 

 $i^.\o per picul, and the average price of Gutta-percha $74 per picul, 

 this work of adulteration of the real with the inferior netted some 

 Si, 500,000. 



Dr. Sherman is inclined to the belief, since he visited the 

 recognized Gutta-percha producingdistricts, that Gutta-percha 

 species of value exist in important quantities in the Philippines, 

 though up to date the most valuable species {Dichopsts gutta) 

 has not been recognized there. But even if this species should 

 not be found. Dr. Sherman believes that it may be introduced 

 under cultivation, citing in support of his belief the success 

 which has attended the experimental plantingof Gutta-percha, 

 under governmental auspices, in Java, to which island the true 

 Gutta-percha is not indigenous. The Dutch government be- 

 gan planting Gutta-percha in 1847,33 a result of which many 

 thousands of trees have come into existence, but as they are of 

 more value in producing seed for further planting than for 

 their product of gum, no extraction is allowed. In view of the 

 diminishing native supplies, the government is now devoting 

 serious attention to Gutta-percha cultivation, and active steps 

 have been taken in a program that, by 1907, will have 900,000 

 to 1,000,000 Gutta-percha trees planted in Java alone. 



In regard to the amount of Gulta-percha secured by the natives in 

 their careless way of working it is almost impossible to say. Their own 

 statements are both inaccurate and wilfully misleading. The experi- 

 ments made by botanists and others show pretty conclusively that the 

 amount of (iutta-percha in a tree increases with its size and age. The 

 amounts secured by supposedly reliable witnesses vary from only a few 

 ounces to 1354 pounds. This is not to be wondered at, as the trees 

 felled were of all sizes and ages. Ons of the latest and most carefully 

 carried out experiments by Curtis gave I'/i pounds of pure Gutta-percha, 

 the tree being large and full grown. Most experimenters agree 

 that the natives, from their careless methods, only get, on an 

 average, i pound from each tree. These experiments naturally sug- 

 gest the queries: First, what amount of Gutta-percha does a tree 

 really contain ; second, what proportion of the total Gutta-percha in 

 the tree can be collected by ringing the tree in the native way ? Wray 

 experimented on the large Gutta-percha tree found in the forest, with a 

 view of throwing light on the matter. By felling and ringing the tree, 

 native fashion, he secured about ■',-, pound of Gutta-percha. He then 

 analyzed the bark and leaves, computed their weight, and concluded 



