a Ring 
286 INDUSTRIAL PLANTS 
may be extracted from the leaves by using solvents. In 
separating the solid from the liquid part of the milk obtained 
by tapping no special means are necessary. A hard “curd” 
soon forms. After removal of the worst impurities (some- 
times facilitated by boiling) the raw material is pressed into 
cakes or lumps and is then ready for export. 
Fig. 272.—Taban-tree (Palaquium Gutta, Sapodilla Family, Sapotacee). 
A, flowering twig. B, young fruit. C, flower. D, ripe fruit. JE, F, 
seed. (Burck.)—Tree 13 m. tall; leaves rusty-hairy beneath; flowers 
“white; fruit fleshy. Native home, Malaysia. 
The general use of gutta-percha dates only from about the 
middle of the 19th century. It was first brought prominently 
into notice by Dr. W. Montgomerie, an English surgeon 
stationed at Singapore. He found the natives using this 
extraordinary material for ax handles, sword hilts, and the 
like. This suggested to him important uses for it in surgery 
ows 
