GUTTA PERCHA. 



21'! 



ture, ami of little commercial value. Heretofore it 

 has lieeii exceedingly difficult to obtain specimens of 

 the llower and fruit (representations of each will be 

 observed in the eugruvinij). The latter contains a 

 concrete edible oil, which is used by the natives with 

 their food. The tree flomishes luxuriantly in alluvial 

 tracts at the foot of hills, and forms iu many places 

 the principal part of the jungle in such situations. 

 It is most plentifully found iu Borneo, Java, Sumatra, 

 and Penang. 



Ciutta percha was first brought to England in the 

 days of Tradescaxt,* as a curious product, 

 r the name of .Muzer-wood, and subse- 

 quently it was frequently brought from China, 

 anil other parts of the East, in the fcjrra of 

 elastic whips, sticks, etc. In 1843, the atten- 

 tion of the scientific and commercial world was 

 attracted to it by various personages, among 

 whom were Drs. D'Almf.id.i, and W. Mont- 

 GO.MEKIE, and Mr. Thomas Lodb. Each of 

 those individuals receive their quota of praise 

 in the ditierent accounts, but as Dr. Mo.ntgom- 

 ERiF. appears to have been the most efficient, 

 and from the fact of his having received seve- 

 ral honorary medals from scientific associations, 

 as the first European discoverer, we choose to 

 join the throng, and will give his recital of the 

 incident. In the year 1842, Dr. Montgomerib 

 was out in the woods at Singapore, when he 

 observed in the hands of a parang, or native 

 woodsman, a hatchet, the handle of which was 

 composed of a strange substance. " I ques- 

 ;ioned the workman in whose possession I found 

 t," says the Doctor iu his account to the soci- 

 3ty of Arts; "I heard that the material from 

 which it was formed, could be moulded in any 

 lesired shape, by dipping it into hot water, 

 .vhen it became as plastic as clay, and when 

 ;old regained its original hardness and rigidity." 

 3f course the Doctor was not long in dissemi- 

 lating his knowledge of so remarkable a sub- 

 ;tanee. He speedily procured specimens of 

 lie tree and its products, in various states of 

 jreparation, and forwarded them to the Socie- 

 y of Arts, in London, and subsequent inquiry 

 ed to the facts which have since become preg- 

 lant of its value. 



At first the natives were in the habit, when 

 hey required a supply, of felling the trees; but 

 sperience soon taught them that the milky 

 uice might be collected by cutting notches 

 lere and there in the trunk, and in this way 

 ife of the tree might be saved for future 

 .appings. The sap coagul'tes in a few min- 

 ites after it is collected ; but before the crude 

 ;am becomes quite hard, it is kneaded by hand 

 nto compact oblong masses, from seven to ten 

 nches in length, by four or five in thickness. This 

 >art of the work is mostly performed by women, as 

 een in the illustration. The blocks made up for e.x- 

 jortation, however, are not ahvays of the same size 

 md appearance, the fancy of the rude barbarians 

 lometimes giving them strange forms — such as a 

 )ird with red berries for eyes, images of ships, quad- 



JoHN Tradescast, the name of two Naturalists, father and 

 on, who liTed in England daring the 17th century. 



rupeds, or the "human face divine." The gum is al- 

 ways sold by weight, a fact which is taken advantage 

 of by the crafty savage, who in humble imitation of 

 more clever adulterators, sometimes introduces a 

 stone, or other heavy substance, in the interior of the 

 mass. As it would entail a serious loss of time on 

 the merchant if he were to cut each block at the 

 port of shipment, it often happens, on the substance 

 reaching this country, it is found to conceal stones or 

 rubbish ; and then woe to the purse and the cutting 

 knives of the purchaser. Besides this, however, the 



FLOWER, FKCIT, AND STEM OF PERCHA TREE. 



block often contains a vast amount of unavailable 

 material in the shape of bark, dirt, leaves, and so on, 

 which becomes accidentally or designedly incorpora- 

 ted with the gum. 



From the examination of the specimens sent over 

 by Dr. Mo.ntgomerie, it became at once apparent 

 that a large trade in the article would speedily take 

 place; and in a few months the jungles of the Jo- 

 hore archipelago, the scene of the first gatherings 



