46 aUTT^ CULTIVATION. 



{Colonial Office, to Royal Gardens, Kew.) 



Downing Street, 



19th August, 1891. 

 Sir, — 



I am directed by Lord Knutsford to enclose, for such observations 

 as you may have to oifer, a copy of a despatch from the Governor of the 

 Straits Settlements on a new process for extracting gutta percha. 



I am, etc., 

 The Director, (Signed) R. H. Meade. 



EoTAL Gardens, Kew. 



{The Governor of the Straits Settlements, to Colonial Office.) 



Government House, Singapore, 



18th July, 1891. 

 My Lord, — 



I have the honour to inform your Lordship that I witnessed yester- 

 day a process for exti'acting gutta percha from the twigs and leaves of 

 the gatta percha tree (Isonandra gutta). It is difficult to over estimate 

 the importance of the invention, and this will be readily understood when 

 I mention that the method hitherto and still in vogue for obtaining 

 gutta percha is to cut down the tree and collect the juice as it exudes 

 from the stem or trunk. This collecting of the juice of the gutta tree is 

 solely in the hands of the natives, who search the jungles for the purpose, 

 and I may add, as a curious detail in their proceedings, that they are 

 reported to consider it necessary to collect the juice from the cut down 

 trees in the dark. 



2. Monsieur Eugene Serullas, a French savant of repute, is the 

 discoverer of the invention to which I refer. I will now describe his 

 process as best I can. The twigs and leaves of the gutta tree, which are 

 obtained by way, as it were, of ordinary pruning, having been brought 

 into the store in bundles, are finelj' chopped up. It is a matter of no 

 moment, apparently, whether the leaves, etc., are still fresh or dead. The 

 chojiped up stuff is then treated with acid (which is the main secret of 

 the invention) until a reddish -brown liquor is produced. This is put into 

 an alembic, already supplied with a small quantity of water, to prevent 

 the gutta from sticking to the sides of the vessel, and steam is applied for 

 about twenty minutes or half -an -hour, during which the acid evaporates 

 and is drawn off. 



3. In yesterday's experiment, through a desire not to keep me wait- 

 ing too long, the alembic was opened rather too soon, and the gutta 

 therefore was not properly cooked. But there it was, rather more than 

 one pound of it, extracted from thirty pounds' weight of the chopped up 

 leaves and twigs. When the process has been perfected it is expected 

 that the proportion of two percent at least of pure gutta will be obtained 

 from the raw material. 



