234 
by a method, sinatra purely mechanical, to extract the Balata from 
the bark by m a steam crushing mill. Тһе process was, how- 
ever, I Бане: abandoned, the product being too impure for com- 
me pur 
7. The method of кыдо aes the Caoutchouc or Gutta Percha by 
means of a solvent is much m romising if it proves practicable, and 
yields a product the essential рге ены of which are not impaired. It 
is not, о novel. In 1878, Mr. Sowerby, the eheu d of the 
B 
1877 (p. 32). o not remember meeting with any account of the 
method being carried out practically. 
8. Gutta Percha is a substance which is at present of first-rate im- 
portance to civilisation, The trees which yield it are confined to a very 
limited area on the earth’s surface; they are of slow growth, and I 
believe, at present, no steps are being taken to plant them so as to 
provide for the Gutta Percha supply of the future. The exhaustion of 
this + important product would seem to be within a measurable distance. 
riments of M. ulus en as, if successful, MA will 
SEM the yield, appear to me к. deserve every encouragemen 
e 
(S imd) ide У. T. THISELTON-DYER. 
The Hon. R. H. Meade, C.B., 
Colonial Office. 
A portion of the original report of Mr. Leonard Wray, junior, is 
reproduced. 
Mr. Leonarp Wray, Junr. to Sir Носн Low, K.C.M ‚в. Нег 
Britannic Majesty’s Resident at Perak. 
Sin, Taaipeng, Perak, September 25, 1883. 
I nave the ерен to inform you, that in pursuance of the 
made some months ago, I turned my attention to the study 
of the trees from hjóli the Gutta Percha of commerce is procured, and 
I now beg to present to ycu my report, embodying the result of those 
studies up to the present time, and solicit your special attention to that 
portion which relates to my discovery of the large quantity of Gutta 
Percha that may be extracted from the bark which is now entirely 
wasted, 
* * * * * * 
Method of collecting the Gutta Taban Merah. 
A tree having been found, a staging of saplings tied together with 
roots or — is ereeted round it, so that it can be cut above the 
spreadin ng b uttresses. The tree is then felled with a little Malay axe, 
_ called a “ billiong,” and as it lies on the ground V shaped rings about 
along the whole length of the t runk and of the large branches, with a 
heavy chopping knife ед á “parang, These cuts soon become 
with the white са like sap, and in about half an hour the Gutta will 
— - rom the aqueous portion of the sap, and ‘may then be 
