GUTTA PERCHA.
"Getah taban" is the name by which the native of the Malay Peninsula calls two closely related trees that he taps for their gray, milky juice. The shamefully wasteful, primitive method is to cut down the tree, strip off the bark in rings, groove the wood to make the juice flow, and boil the fragments of wood and bark to get all the latex possible. It is the residue, after the water is all evaporated, that he sells, as "gutta." We call this solid substance "gutta percha." The peculiar property that sets gutta percha apart from rubber is its softening in warm water, and becoming rigid again when cooled. It is inelastic. Otherwise it is like rubber.
Gutta percha is used chiefly to insulate wires in electrical apparatus. The laying of the Atlantic cable created a considerable demand for it. Dentists and artists prefer it to other substances for taking impressions. It is one of the materials used for the handles of surgical instruments, and similar articles.
The nearest natural substitute for genuine gutta percha is made from the juice of the bullet tree, a near relative of the true getah taban. It grows in Trinidad and South America, and its juice, while containing gutta, is about half resin, which is a great nuisance. The product is called Balata, or Surinam gutta percha.
"Pontianac," made from the juice of certain East Indian trees, is an inferior waterproofing material, cheap in price, for, with a small propor tion of gutta-like substance, it contains a high percentage of resin and other elements.
The five species of true gutta percha trees belong to the genus Dichopsis, and grow only on the Malay Peninsula, or near it. The Balata, or bullet tree, is Afinzusops bullata, whose rich, sweet fruit is found regularly in the West Indian markets.