140 
The tree, the — juice of which yields commercial 
gutta percha, was first brought into notice in 1842 by Dr. 
Montgomerie. Bealls it was made known in 1847 by Sir 
William Hooker who figured and described it under the name of 
Isonandra Gutta in the London Journal of Botany, vol. vi. 
(1847), p. 463, t. 16, from specimens contributed by Mr. Thomas 
b and Dr. Ox cle ey of Singapore. It was afterwards placed 
under the genus Dichopsis by Bentham i in Genera Plantarum, i ii. 
p. 658. Dichopsis Gutta is figured and described in Bentley and 
Trimen’s Medicinal Plants, t. 167. It is also included under 
v wr in the recently completed Flora of British India, vol. 
4p. 043. It is the Palaquium Gutta of continental botanists. 
"Tho plant has been grown at Kew for many years and has been 
sparingly reri to botanical institutions in the New World. 
It is, however, difficult of treatment and appears to thrive well 
only within its natural habitat in the Malay quem emen 
Samples of and manufactured gutta percha are shown i 
Case 68 in Museum 
Dr. Ern t Werner von Siemens employed gutta percha eo the 
electric Mdh of subterranean telegraph lines in 1847 and since 
that time this interesting substance has been largely ted fora 
variety of ^ ene but stil chiefly in the manufacture of 
telegraph ca 
NEUE d á Tw Obach the imports of raw gutta percha into 
1,71 95 1885, 
and 1895, 2,610 tons. The total imports for the years 1844 to 
1896 y amounted to 82,607 tons, an average of 1,559 tons 
per an 
The | eei for raw gutta percha of first quality such as Pahang, 
has been fairly uniform of late years. During tke period from 
1889 to "ud inclusive it has only varied from 3s. 3d. to 3s. 9d. 
per pou 
The occurrence of trees of gutta percha at Singapore was noticed 
in the Koi Bulletin (1891, p. 220) ; an account of a new process 
for extracting n Sue from the eaves was also given 
(K. B. 1891, p. 231, and 1897, p. 200). The inanis of 
D ms gutta percha from two "Indian trees, Dichopsis obovata 
elliptica was discussed in the Kew Bulletin, 1892 
75 55 and 226). 
With regard to i =< referred to above Dr. Obach made 
the following rem 
* A tree ten vente old yields about 15 Ibs. of dry leaves ; one 
— years ie about 25 lbs, i.e., 1 lb. more for every two 
years ic advances in age. If, therefore, the leaves of a tree 
as regularly plucked every year from the age of ten till it 
reaches ' matre at thirty, it would have produced 420 lbs. of 
40 lbs, that is, at least twenty times as much as would be 
obtained from a tree of the same age, when felled and bled in the 
customary way. This result, even if only partly realisable, would, 
in practice, be of enormous value to the pon ane d (Journal 
of the Society of Arts, Jan. 7, 1898, p. 153). uS 
