115 



reports that it is "good but does not yield so freely as, and is not 

 so highly priced as the produce of ' Taban Merah.' " The follow- 

 ing extract from Wray's notes as " Taban Putih " seem to refer to 

 this species : 



44 This tree cannot be told, by its outward appearance, from 



Palaquium Gutta, except that its leaves are rather larger. It has 



large buttresses, with convex tops, and the bark is nearly of the 



same shade, but rather browner. The fruit also seems to be 



similar, and the flowers are white ; so that it is not until the tree is 



felled, that any very distinctive character appears. It is then found 



that the sap, which is much more copious, does not coagulate 



quickly, and when it does, it is of a dirty white colour, and has a 



much higher softening point than any of the higher kinds, even 



boiling water not being sufficiently hot to thoroughly soften it. 



This tree grows on the hills up to an elevation of 2,500 feet above 

 sea-level. 



" I have never seen it growing on the plains, nor in fact lower 

 down than 1,800 feet. It ripens its fruit in the month of 

 February. 



" The gutta is collected by felling the tree, ringing the bark, 

 and placing leaves, bamboos, &c, under it to catch the sap ; which 

 is afterwards boiled, and the natives often add salt to hasten its 

 coagulation. 



" It is frequently adulterated with the gutta from * Kayu 

 Gelutong 1 (JDyera costulata, Hook, f.), and from two or three of 

 the species of Bassia. 



"The usual method of mixing them is to do so before the sap 

 has coagulated, as afterwards, owing to the high melting point of 

 4 Taban Putih,' they cannot be so easily and intimately combined. 

 A tree of ten inches of diameter at four to five feet from the 

 ground, gave 2 lbs. 11 ozs. of fairly clean gutta perch a. 



"There is a variety which differs from the above in having 

 smaller leaves, and in the shape of the fruit, which is longer in ' 

 proportion to its breadth. I have found it growing on the hills 

 at 2,300 feet elevation, and it ripens its fruit in the month of 

 February." 



The variety referred to is that mentioned in the " Malay 

 Materials" as P. Oxleyamim Tar. glabrata, King and Gamble. 



P. obovatum, (Griff.) King and Gamble, is a large tree, common 

 throughout tl 



rds to Snmatra. It gives, according to Curtis, " only 

 a low class bastard gutta percha of little value ; " but Mr. Kurz 

 reported it as yielding a fair sort of gutta percha, and Kidley also 

 gives it a better character saying that it yields "a fairly good 

 second class white gutta." He gives it the name "Taban Putih," 

 which is also one of the names given to P. Oxleyanum, and says, 

 after Curtis, that it is also called "Niato Bunga," "Niato Tembaga," 

 and " Niato Balam," both the words " Niato " and " Balam " being 

 Sumatran equivalent for the Peninsular "Taban." Ridley considers 



species. 



•ee of the forests of Cambod 



Mr 



closely allied to this 



Indo-China in the form of twists, but to be only of low value. 



