The caoutchouc from Perak has much the same appearance as Assam rubber and I 
have little doubt is produced by the same tree i. e. Ficus elastic a, as the description of the 
tree by the Malays agrees very closely with that of the above named plant, the red points 
to the branches being probably the conspicuous red stipules, which envelope the young 
leaves. Specimens an ! young plants have been promised to Mr. Low and myself, and 1 hope 
before long to definitely settle the origin of gutta rambong. It is unknown, at Liang. 
41b. — Gutta-singga <*ip. This subs lance is ’also a Caoutchouc and agrees very closely 
in texture, appearance, and in the mode of preparation with the Gutta-soosoo of Borneo 
and Mr. Bruce the Assistant Commisioner of Police at Kinta, who has spent some time 
among tho Gutta-soosoo collectors in .Borneo, assures me that they are t lie same product. 
Hie Malay-; about K wall a Kaog-.i spell it but in Salangor and Durian Sabatang it 
j< pronounced “.Grip" and Garape." 
It is the prodm-e o'' a i rage woody climber* with stems aboui «5 or S inches in diameter, 
but of Sen much lea;, of which there are two varieties, one with outer bark very dark with 
lighter coloured, warts and inner bark red, the other has the outer bark light cork coloured 
with longitudinal channels, and the inner bark light yellow. 
Both yield edible fruits of winch tho Malays are very fond, that of one being pomiform 
aud the oi her pyriform, but I am unable to say which yields the pomiform fruit or which produ- 
ces 1 he oi lier form a - the plants were nol in fruit a! the time of my visit. The foliage of both 
plaids is lunch alike. 
The gutta from the dark barked \ariety is considered the best. 1 saw both sorts 
in quantity between Suughie iv-aya and Qualla Dipang, and on Bujuiig Malacca below 2,000 
feet and will), one or two plants on Gunong Bubo. 
the long scam lent stems arc often cut down to procure the milk, but it is not absolutely 
necessary to do so, except to render the -operation of collecting the gutta easier. The stem 
is generally ringed a!; intervals of 10 to 12 inches, and the milk allowed to run into vessels 
made of palm or other leaves, coepanut shells or anything available for the purpose; it con- 
tinues to How for some time, but after flowing for 10 minutes it gets very watery and thin. 
One plant will yield from 5 to 10 catties of the coagulated caoutchouc. When raw it has 
the appearance of sour milk and to coagulate- it the natives add salt or salt-water, 
and when freshly coagulated it is quite while, which gradually changes to a darker colour, 
but in one specimen 1 have .all the transitions from black to white are represented - -1 find 
the black part has tho larges i proportion of earth. &c. It keeps white inside and on cutting 
it it presold s a forested appearance, the cells containing water and salt which have become 
enclosed during coagulation. In texture it is soft, very spongy, and very wet. 
From January to November, i - 77, 57 piculs, 15 catties were exported from Liang alone. 
As 1 was unable to get flower or fruit 1 am unable to determine the species from which 
tins suhmmee is derived. Borneo rubber or Gutta-soosoo is said by Mr. Collins .in his IRepori 
lo be the produce of Creed a elastica. but 1 am inclined to think that one or two spp. of 
Willubeia yield the Gutta Singgarip of. I he Malay Peninsula. 
That it is not obtained from Un-cola elastica is evident, as I saw several old peduncles 
from which the flowers had fallen, and these were axillary, while U. elaetica produces its 
bowers in tormina’ cymes, am? 1 have frequently found in the Malay plant, numerous 
axillary tendrils which I believe never occurs iu l reeola. 
Urceola has also ovate acuminate leaves, rough on both surfaces, which, in the Malay 
plant are lanceolate-acuminate, and quite glabrous on both surfaces. 
I have procured specimens of the foliage stems and gutta, which will be sent to Kew 
to v ide nt-i I ieation . 
• 5th, ~ Gutta-putih Syn. Gutta-suudek. This the product of an Isonandra with leaves 
differing from those of .1 . gutta in being being much shorter and broader, more ovate iu 
general outline and the pilose hairs on the under surface are not so fulvous as in that species. 
Air. Collins. iu his report attributes it to Imacropaylla (De Yriese). but I have no des- 
cription of this plant at hand. 
The gutta is obtained and prepared in the same manner as G.-taban and trees are fre- 
quently met with on the Sayong and Meeru ranges. Of this variety 481 piculs, 5G catties 
were exported from Liang alone, from January to November, 1877. It is much whiter and 
more spongy than G.-taban and is worth only $15 per picul as against $50 for G.-taban. 
When crossing the Meeru range from Kinta to KwalLa Kangsa I cut off some leafy 
bandies from a tree which had been felled and ringed a few days before. These leaves were 
beautifully yellow on the lower surface, caused by small peltate scales, and not pilose hairs- 
as in the IV-onandras, but on making enquiries from men about Sayong they pronounced 
them to be the foliage of some nou-gutt-a yielding tree, which is certainly wrong as I saw 
the dry gutta adhering to Lie bark where it had been ringed. 
A kind of gutta called G. jelutong is often used iu Perak for mixing with Guttas tabau 
find putih. thus rendering them very brittle, but I have not seen the gutta nor the tree 
producing it. isonandra Motley ana is said to yield a gum, which in Java and Sumatra is 
known ns G. koliau, and is used only for adulterating purposes. 
Various spp. of Fig (Ficus) yield large 'quantities of milk, which in Perak is known as 
rutta-burong as the only use to which it is put is for bird catching. 
E. J. MERTON. 
January 8 th, 1878. 
G 
