The Malay word gutta (variously spelt) signifies " gum" simply, while percha is the name of the tree. The guttas distinguished by the Malays are as follows :—(1) Gutta-susu, obtained from a scientifically-unknown tree, now extinct except in the interior of Perak ; the product is the most esteemed of any, on account of the firmness of texture. Must not be confounded with the Bornean article of the same name, which is a kind of indiarubber. (2) Gutta-taban, the " guttapercha" of commerce, which will receive further attention presently. (3) Gutta-rambong, and (4) Gutta-sing garip, kinds of indiaruhher, and described in that section. (5) Gutta-puti or gutta-sundek, the product of an undetermined species of Dichopsis [Isonandra], frequently met with on the Sayong and Meeru ranges (Perak). It is obtained and prepared in the same manner as taban, but is much whiter and more spongy, and valued at little more than the price of tetban; of it, some 4841 piculs (of 1331 lb.) were exported from one port in 1877. (6) Gutta-julatong, of unknown origin, often used in Perak for mixing with taban and putt, thus rendering them very brittle. (7) Gutta-kolian, said to be derived from Isonandra [Dichapsis] Motleyana, of the Peninsula, Java, and Sumatra ; the product is used only for adulterating. (8) Gutta-burong, the milks of various species of Ficus, employed as bird-lime, aud described under indiarubber.
[Since the preceding remarks have been in type, Beauvisage has published a monograph on guttapercha, see Bibliography (p. 1695), which deserves the attention of all interested in the sub ject ; it is too late to do more here than give a brief epitome of his nomenclature :—Lichopsis [Isonandra] Gutta is called gutta-balam at Pajakomlao (W. Sumatra) and the Lampongs (S. Sumatra), gutta-tambaga at Lobo Along (W. Sumatra), gutta-dadu or -seroja in Banka Island, gutta-derian in Sokadana (S.-W. Borneo) and E. Sumatra, gutta-percha iu Malaysia generally, gutta-taban in the Rion Archipelago, and ngiato-mera or -to-oen in Borneo ; Isonandra dasyphylla [Bintang], is the ngiato-bintang ; Motleyana is kotian; macrophylla is ngiato-puti ; L Benjamata is ngiato-wangi ; L xanthochyma is ngiato-renkan; quercifolia is ngiato-tinang ; I. rostrata is the ngiato-pisang of Banka ; Dichopsis Krantziana [I. Krantzti] is the thior of Cambodia and chay of Annam ; Chryso phyllum rhodencurum is karetandjeng ; Cocosmanthus rnacrophyllus is karetmondjeng ; Ceratophorus [Azaola] Leerii is balam-tandoh, -tjabe, -trong, or -sonte, or kolan ; Ceratophorus longipetiolatus is benko ; Sideroxylon attenuatum is balam-tima or karet-pantjal. He identifies ngiato-dohang as a Bassia sp.; and further enumerates as guttapercha-yielding plants Bassia sericea, Isonandra lamponga, L micro phylla, and I. acuminata.] Commercial guttapercha is essentially gutta-taban, derived from Dichopsis [Isonandra] Gutta, of which there are a white-flowcred and a red-flowered variety in Perak, known locally as ngiato-puti and ngiato-mera. The supplies from this species are supplemented by some of those previously men
tioned ; according to Burbidge, the guttapercha obtained from the Lawas district of Borneo is formed of the mingled saps of at least 5 species of Dichopsis, the juices of a Ficus, and of one or two species of Artocarpece being not infrequently added as adulterants. The Dichopsis [Isonandra] spp. flourish best in light rich loam with a rocky subsoil. Many of the most valuable varieties are con fined to the Lill-slopes at a distance from the sea, each forming a distinct grove of 200-500 trees. Small plants (1-8 ft.) of D. [L] Gutta are abundant on the granitic formations in Perak up to 3500 ft.
All apteies are difficult to propag,ate, except from seed, and are very slow (25-30 years) to attain maturity. For their cultivation, it is recommended to take plants not more than I ft. high from the jungles ; it is necessary to lift them very carefully, ft8 they have long tap-roots, which are liable to he broken or injnred, thus greatly retarding the growth of the plant, or killing it outright. These facts need te be taken into cnnsideration in view of the rapid extermination of the trees which is now tiking place. Doubtless large quantities of guttapereha, as of indiarubber, are still to be deri‘ed frorn the little-known interiors of Malacca, Borneo, and Sumatra, if at an iucreased cost ; but cultivation, and some system of obtainieg the product short of killing the tree, will have soon to be adopted in earnest, if a supply is to be maintained.
Iu Perak, the guttapereha trees are most abundant on Gunong Meern, Gunong Sayong, and Bujong ; a few large trees still exist on Gunong Babo and the Thaipeng range. In Borneo and Sulu, the Kailyans and their Murut neighbours collect considerable quantities of the gum in the surrounding forests, and convey it to Labuan for sale. A writer in the Journal of the Indian Archipelago' some years since says :—" To the north, the gutta collectors have reached as far as Perak on the Peninsular aide of the Straits of Malacca . . . and, on the Sumatran aide, as far as Pane and Bile. To the aouth, the whole of the Johore Archipelago, and the a, ljuining countries on the E. coast of Sumatra, as far as Palembang (including the forests on tho Kemper, Indragire, Tunkul, Rite, Jambi, and Palembang rivers) now furnish taban. On the E. coast of the Peninsula, the knowledge of it has not yet advanced beyond Pahang. To the eastward, it has reached some of the rivers of Borneo, such as Brunei and Sarawak on the north, Pontianak on the west, and Koti and Passir on the east. It thus appears probable that the range of the taban embraces the whole of Borneo." Another author states that this tree is one of the roost common in Johere. It is not found in the alluvial districts ; but in undulating ground, such as that occupying the centre of the Malay Peninsula between the Indan and Batu Pahat, it occurs frequently, and, in some places, abundantly.