2 20 



even for that purpose only when Rhizophora and Brnguiera can- 

 not be got. Many mangroves near towns consist almost exclu- 

 sively of this tree, the other kinds having been exterminated. 



The teak, Tectona grand 71s L. Jati. 



Has been largely experimented with lu re and proves a com- 

 plete failure. It grows to the height of some 12 01-15 feet and 

 then dies down, throwing up another shoot which behaves in like 

 manner. One or two trees in the Botanic Gardens have attained 

 a height of about 40 feet and produce flowers and fruits but these 

 are exceptions. Possibly it might do better at a greater altitude, 

 but it is certainly useless in the low country. 



NOTES ON GUTTA PERCHA TREES 



By C. CURTIS. 



Owing mainly to the fact that the two substances, Gutta Percha 

 and india-rubber, are both quoted in the Straits market reports 

 and known locally a« guttas, which is literally following the Malay 

 names, much confusion exists in the minds of the general public, 

 and of some planters, as to the difference in the properties and 

 uses of the two substances, as well as to the trees that produce 

 them. The most conspicuous property of gutta percha, and the 

 one that distinguishes it from rubber, is its capability of becoming 

 soft and plastic on immersion in hot water, and retaining any 

 shape then given it upon cooling; when it again becomes hard 

 but not brittle. Rubbers, on the other hand do not soften in hot 

 and retain their original elasticity.* According to Dr. OSBACH, 

 whose Cantor lectures on the subject is a classical work, the ear- 

 liest intimation of the existance of gutta percha was about the 

 middle of the 17th Century at which time there appears to have 

 been a specimen in Tradascants Museum known as the '* plyable 

 mazer wood, which being warmed in water will work to any 

 shape ". This is considered to apply to gutta percha since no 

 other substance suitable for Mazers or goblets is known to possess 

 this remarkable property. From this time until the year 1843 

 nothing more appears to have been known regarding this wonder- 

 ful substance when it attracted the attention of two residents in 

 Singapore both of whom sent specimens to Europe. At a meeting 

 of the Society of Arts held in January 1845 these specimens, which 

 consisted of a riding whip and a lump of gutta, came under the 

 notice of Mr. (afterwards Sir) William Si EC MENS the ultimate 

 result of which was its adoption for insulating telegraph wires and 

 other electrical work, which created a demand that has practically 

 exhausted the forests of this region of large gutta producing trees. 

 All genuine gutta percha is obtained in the Malayan Archipelago, 

 and the area within which it is found growing extends about six 

 degrees on either side of the equator. They do not occur so far north 

 as the Langkawi, Islands, and the so called guttas from there and 

 the Mergui Archipelago are I believe mainly obtained from species 



