GUTTA PERCHA

This important article, th( uses of which in arts and manufactures are on the rap it increase, is the produce of a large forest tree {Isonandrt Gutta. Nat. Ord. Sapotacece) growing in the mountain i of Singapore, and in the forests of Johore at the ex. tremity of the Malayan Peninsula, and in Borneo; it ii plentiful at Sarawak, where it is called Niato; it is als( supposed to abound on the clusters of islands to tli( south of Singapore. The gutta perch a appears to sep a rate from the juice or sap of the tree in the same wa] as India rubber, and its general properties in regard t< solvents and to the products of destructive distillation re serable those of caoutchouc. At common temperatur gutta perclia is somewhat hard and very tough and un yielding, but when immersed in boiling water it soften so as to admit of being beaten into a ma and moulde into any requisite shape, and on cooling it resumes it hardne . In very thin films it has a pale yellow o pinkish tinge, but generally occurs in brown or black is' lumps or ma es, of a somewhat mottled appearanc upon the cut surface, and translucent at the edges When softened it may be's tretched into slips which d not recover their former shape w hen the force is with drawn, but retain a kind of leathery pliability on coolinc When heated to about 350° gutta perch a undergoes kind of fusion, and remains viscid when cold. It burn with a strong yellow smoky flame. It is said to b obtainable in very large quantities, but that from th destructive mode hitherto pursued by the natives i obtaining it, there is a risk of its scarcity. It was fir? [s. 1389]