American Gvtta Percha Company, 189 
AMERICAN GUTTA PERCHA COMPANY. 
Of the numerous articles of commerce and manufacture which 
have been introduced into our country, that which has given rise 
to the association named above is probably second to none in re- 
spect of utility, and interest, and importance. Our beniiicent Cre- 
ator, in providing for the diversified wants, whether real or ima- 
ginary, and in making arrangements for the comfort and taibsist- 
ence of the human species, has imparted to different productions 
of the earth every various quality necessary for the accomplish- 
ment of these objects. And he has left it to the ingenuity and 
art of man, to make use of these productions in the mode best 
adapted to the purposes for which they are, as it would seem, 
more especially designed. Those having few useful properties are, 
of course, limited in their application and adaptation to man's 
wants; but others again, of a more versatile character, can be 
appropriated to many valuable uses. Of all the articles of this 
latter description that we have met with, we know of nothing 
which, in its numerous and diversified, and even opposite quali- 
ties, can compare with that which is known by the Indian name 
of GvUa Percha. It is the gum of a tree which grows in the 
island of Borneo, and which is found in great abundance in the 
forests of the Malayan peninsula. The term Gutta means simply 
the gum, and Percha is the name given by the natives to the tree 
from which it is procured. The tree often grows as large as six 
feet in diameter, and is chiefly useful for its gum, or the sap ob- 
tained from it, although it produces a fruit yielding a concrete oil, 
used for food. Although of such large dimensions, the wood of 
this tree is unfit to be used for timber, or in building. It was, in 
fact, a matter of mere accident that it became known as possessed 
of a property that could be usefully employed for manufactuiing 
purposes. A native woodman was first seen with the handle of 
an axe, called in their language a farang, which, attracting the 
attention of a physician at Singapore, was found upon inquiry to 
be made of this substance; and, although perfectly hard at the 
time, having ascertained that by dipping it into boiling water it 
became soft and pliable, and could be moulded into any form, and 
that it regained its rigidity when cold, — he immediately conceived 
the idea, that it might be converted into a very valuable article 
of commerce. And having communicated this discovery to the 
medical board at Calcutta, and to the Society of Arts in London, 
measures were immediately taken by the East India Company to 
collect it for exportation. This occurred in the autumn of 1843; 
