GUTTA-PERCHA. 35 



does not appear to be suitable for any purpose to which 

 gutta-percha itself is applied." Gutta-shea is, therefore, a 

 substance which, though an introduction of recent years, 

 does not, according to present lights, appear to have much 

 of a future before it. Nevertheless, some new application 

 may before long be found for it, and it may yet become an 

 important trade product. 



MASSERANDUBA or COW-TREE OF PARA. 



(Mimusops elata.) 



A tree one hundred feet high, belonging to the same 

 natural order (Sapotacese) as the gutta-percha, balata, and 

 gutta shea trees. Though attributed, as above stated, to 

 Mimusops elata, its specific name has not been determined 

 with certainty, as the flowers have not been examined. The 

 milky juice flows freely from wounds made in the bark : it 

 is of a cream-like appearance and substance, thickening and 

 becoming like gutta-percha on exposure to the air. This 

 substance was first brought to notice by the South American 

 traveller, Richard Spruce, who sent a sample of the wood 

 and milk, collected by himself, to the Kew Museum in 1849, 

 where they are still preserved. 



Up to the present time the milk of the Masseranduba 

 has not been turned to any practical account. 



GUM EUPHORBIUM. 



Under this name, or more frequently under the contrac- 

 tion of " G. E.," by which it is known in commerce, a sub- 

 stance has quite recently attracted much interest, in 

 consequence of its reputed adaptability for mixing with 

 gutta-percha and india-rubber to the extent of fifty per cent. 

 It was stated in September, 1887, that a piece of vulcanised 

 rubber containing fifty per cent, of euphorbium gum was 

 tested for some time in an exposed position on a roof, and 

 that it kept in better condition than a similarly exposed 

 D2 



