2b6 



safe estimate of one-tenth as the amount secured, the fearful waste 

 is very evident. 



Many years ago it was found that the bark left on the Gutta- 

 percha tree which has been felled by the natives and left to rot in 

 the jungle still contained 5 per cent, of pure Gutta-percha, while 

 the dead leaves 7 to 10 per cent. Consequently many experiments 

 have been made in European countries, as well as in Singapore and 

 Java, to get a working process for extracting Gutta-percha from 

 bark and leaves. The processes thus resulting are both patented 

 and secret, and Dr. Sherman was not permitted to examine them, 

 but he inclines to the belief that all the Gutta-percha factories now 

 running in the East have greatly improved their methods and 

 machines since the beginning. The consensus of opinion seems to 

 be that, by the time the Gutta-percha plantations are ready to fur- 

 nish leaves enough, the factories will be able to produce the best 

 grade of Gutta-percha. 



To sum up, Dr. Sherman believes, after visiting the Gutta-percha 

 regions already exploited, that the Phillippines contain Gutta-percha 

 species of value. If the best species is not to be found native, the 

 conditions are favourable for its introduction. A supply from planta- 

 tions may be a long time coming, but the Philippines will be equally 

 situated with other countries, when the native supplies have become 

 exhausted and plantations of Gutta-percha are the only dependence. 

 And by the time plantations are matured, the work of chemists will 

 have provided means for obtaining a steady annual yield of Gutta 

 without injury to the tree. 



Gutta Percha Exports from Sarawak. 



There is a growing output of Gutta-percha from the British pro- 

 tectorate of Sarawak, of which Kuching is the capital, on the 

 western coast of Borneo, and which has an area equal to that of 

 Illinois, in the United States. According to Dr. Obach, the exports 

 of Gutta-percha for the five years ended 1896 were 1,593,984 pounds, 

 an annual average of 318, 797 pounds of the average export value 

 of 35. V cents. The last report of the British consul in Sarawak con- 

 tains data from which this tabic has been compiled, giving the 

 weight of yearly exports in piculs, and value in English money, 

 with equivalent weights in pounds and value in American money : 



Years 



Piculs 



£ 



Pounds 



Cents 



1897 



- - 2,867 - 



i%553 



- 382,266 s- - 



- 2 3t 



1898 - - 



- 3,745 - 



27.573 



- 499,35° - 



- 261- 



1899 - ■ 



- - 8,980 - 



56,562 



- M97,333i - 



- 23' 



I 90O - ■ 



- - 7,964 - 



78,829 



- i,o6i,866| - 



" 36* 



Gutta-percha is gathered by the native Dyaks, who can be hired 

 for 7 pence per day. The trading is chiefly in the hands of Chinese. 

 Some of the best Gutta-percha known to commerce comes from 

 Sarawak, but there is also included much " Sarawak mixed, " which 

 Obach describes as " a very useful second class material." The 

 average export value, therefore, is less than for Gutta-percha from 



