AGRICULTURAL BULLETIN 



OF I HE 



STRAITS 



AND 



F E D E K A T E D M A L A V STATES. 



No. 2.]. FEBRUARY, 1905. [Vol. IV. 



SOME FACTS ABOUT GUTTA PERCHA. 



Gutta Percha, derived almost entirely from trees growing within 

 six or seven degrees of the equator, is naturally one of the most 

 important products of the Federated Malay States of Perak, Se- 

 langor, Pahang and Negri Sembilan. I will endeavour in this 

 article to give a general idea of the subject, under the following 

 heads: — 



[. General, species distribution, etc. 

 11. Measures taken for protection, past and present. 

 1(1. Methods of extraction. 



IV. Manufacture, adulteration, lines of transit. 



V. Properties. 



I. — General. 



The word Gutta Percha is derived from the Malay word *" Getah' , 

 which means any substance such as gum, latex, resin, etc., which 

 exudes from wounds or incisions in the bark of tree^. "Percha" 

 refers to the Malay name for Sumatra, " Pulau Percha." Gutta 

 Percha, therefore, originally meant Getah from Sumatra. 



Gutta Percha in its pure state may be taken to mean the coagu- 

 lated latex of trees belonging to the genera Palaquium (Syn. 

 Dichopsis, Isonandra) and Payena. Inferior Gutta Perchas are 

 yielded also by several specie> of Bassuz, and one or two species 

 of Ficus, but these will not be discussed here, the object of this 

 article being to discuss the best Gutta Percha producing species, 

 which are also the ones found most commonly in the Federated 

 Malay States. 



Mr. CURTIS, in the Agricultural Bulletin of the Federated Malay 

 States and Straits Settlements, has made the following observa- 

 tions: — " Palaquium, the tree referred to as "Getah Taban,'' was 

 " originally described as an Isonandra^ but subsequently found not 

 "to agree in certain particulars with that genus, consequently a 

 *'' new genus was created, called Didiopsis. Later it was found that 



