KIDD'S OWN JOUKNAL. 



353 



THE PROGRESS OF INVENTION. 

 GUTTA PERCHA. 



Th' invention all admir'd ; and each, how he 



To be th' Inventor miss'd! So easy it seem 'd 



Once found,which, yet unfbund, most would have thought 



Impossible. Milton. 



EOPLE ARE NOW BECOMING 

 ASHAMED OF THE IGNORANCE 



which has so long veiled their 

 minds ; and it is a subject for 

 rejoicing that they will listen 

 to what is brought before them 

 for their improvement. This 

 is a good sign, which nobody 

 can hail more heartily than we do. 



Gutta Percha is one of the wonders of the 

 age we live in. Most people are aware of 

 what it is — inasmuch as they see it in daily 

 use. Whether in articles of use or orna- 

 ment, it meets our eye wherever we go. 

 But, as everybody may not be aware of the 

 particulars relative to its application, and 

 mode of preparation, we propose to en- 

 lighten them by taking them over the Com- 

 pany's works, which are situate in Wharf 

 Road, on the banks of the Regent's Canal, 

 City Road. The subjoined details are care- 

 fully abridged from an article in " Hogg's 

 Instructor," — a publication we have before 

 had occasion to speak of in high terms of 

 praise : — 



The works of the ' Company ' cannot be mis- 

 taken. The tall chimney towering almost as 

 high as the Monument, would be conspicuous any- 

 where. Should the visit be at any time more than 

 imaginative, the utility of thick gutta perclia 

 ' soles ' will be made manifest. The locality can- 

 not well be invaded nor left without its seal, in 

 the material of mud, being attached to the visi- 

 tor's habiliments. Inside the yards are stacks of 

 gutta percha, in the state in which it leaves its 

 native country ; light, honeycomb masses, con- 

 taining about half a cubic foot, and of the shape 

 of a corpulent ' lapstone ' — an appurtenance of 

 the ' stall ' which seems in a likely way of being 

 superseded. 



' Percha ' (ch sounded as in the English word 

 perch) is the general name of the trees that pro- 

 duce the ' gutta,' or gum that exudes from them. 

 Both are Malayan words. Like the caoutchouc, 

 the gutta percha belongs to the natural order 

 Sipotacece, or plants that give a milky juice. 

 It is, however, not indigenous to so great an area 

 as the India-rubber plant. While the latter 

 flourishes in every part of the torrid zone, the 

 former is confined to a large space indeed, but 

 only a portion of the East Indies, and generally 

 amongst the islands. Fears were once entertained 

 that limited bounds would limit the supply. Pre- 

 mature fears ; for with vastly increased and in- 

 creasing demands, they have been almost forgotten. 

 Singapore is the depot of the trade, but new dis- 

 tricts are constantly being adiled to those from 

 which supplies have come. Each year, instead 

 of an augury of the last consignment, gives proof 

 of more exhaustless abundance. Sir James 



Brook says, 'The tree is called niato by the 

 Sarawak people, but they are not acquainted with 

 the properties of its sap. It attains a considerable 

 size, even six feet diameter, and, most probably, 

 it is plentiful all over Borneo.' 



A more natural apprehension of its failure, arose 

 from a wanton ' kill the goose to get the egg ' de- 

 vastation of trees by the natives. The sap cir- 

 culates in little, black, capillary vessels between 

 the bark and the body of the tree. To collect it, 

 the native would fell a magnificent specimen of a 

 century's growth, the produce of which would be 

 of little more than four shillings' value. There is 

 no property in the forest trees of Malacca and 

 parts in the vicinity, so that any other method 

 than ' felling ' would not be so immediately pro- 

 ductive. European skill will prevent the exter- 

 mination system continuing long, and multiply 

 the growth of trees by regular culture ; and also 

 acclimatise them in countries where they are not 

 indigenous. 



The Gutta Percha Company has endeavored to 

 promote the method of tapping the trees. This 

 is done by making regular incisions in the trunk, 

 from which the juice flows in the same manner 

 as the maple sugar of America, or the gum of our 

 own plum-tree. The sap flows freely. Although 

 a great supply is not so readily gained by this 

 means, yet the development of the tree is scarcely 

 hindered, and it is ready to be tapped again in 

 three or four years. Before the fluid solidifies, 

 which it does very quickly, women work it up 

 into the masses to which our attention was drawn. 

 The Portuguese, Dutch, and English nations have, 

 the one or the other, been in the neighborhood of 

 the gutta percha tree for nearly 350 years, and 

 yet it never became known to them. Its vast 

 utility has been attested by the extreme rapidity 

 of the growth of the trade. In 1843, was im- 

 ported, 20,600 lbs. ; five years afterwards, the 

 amount was more than 3,000,000 lbs. ; and each 

 succeeding year has increased the amount in a 

 degree proportionate. 



Chemically, the substance is a carburet of 

 hydrogen. Its analysis is almost identical with 

 that of caoutchouc by Dr. Faraday, and it presents 

 the anomalous phenomenon of contracting in boil- 

 ing water, directly opposed to all the laws of 

 heat. 



Dr. Montgomery has the merit of first pointing 

 out its valuable properties, and received the gold 

 medal of the Society of Arts for this very, valuable 

 acquisition to modern discoveries. He very 

 modestly says, ' I may not arrogate to myself the 

 actual discovery of gutta percha.' As far back as 

 1822, he knew of the existence of the tree. 

 While making inquiries at Singapore about 

 caoutchouc, several fine specimens were brought 

 to him ; one, in particular, named ' gutta girek,' 

 of a softer nature than gutta percha, or gutta 

 tuban, as it is more properly called. The doctor 

 was recalled to the Bengal presidency, and had 

 no opportunity of prosecuting his inquiries for 

 twenty years. In 1843, he drew public attention 

 to it. Previous to its introduction then, it was 

 quite unknown to Europeans, but it was known 

 to a very few of the inhabitants of certain Malay- 

 an forests. From the trifling uses to which it was 

 applied, it was likely enough to have remained 

 unknown, being used only occasionally for handles 



Vol. III. — 23. 



A. X 



