256 



POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. 



leaves ; they are small^ each on a distinct peduncle. They 

 are tubular or monopetalous flowers, with the tube short, 

 and spreading into six elUptical segments. The stamens 

 are twelve in number, as long as the segments of the 

 corolla ; the pistil is simple, and longer than the stamens. 



At present the mode of procuring the milky juice which 

 constitutes the gutta-percha is so destructive, that unless 

 the Malays can be taught to use greater care, the gutta- 

 percha trees of the Malayan Archipelago will soon be ex- 

 terminated. The finest trees are selected and felled, the 

 bark stripped off, and the milky juice which is found be- 

 tween the bark and wood is collected in small troughs 

 made from the stalk of the plantain-leaf; as the juice 

 coagulates it is kneaded into cakes for exportation. Each 

 tree produces from twenty to thirty pounds of gutta-percha. 

 When hardened by exposure to the air, this gum (Plate 

 XYIII. fig. 96) has a hgbt brown colour resembling leather, 

 a remarkable odour of cheese, and a spongy or cork-like 

 texture ; it is mixed with many impurities, which have to 

 be separated by softening it in hot water and re-kneading 

 it ; this process is termed ''devilling^' by the operators. 



It is imported in blocks of various shapes, but usually in 

 square cakes about eighteen inches in length, nine in breadth. 



