The times., 1898-10-10
WASTE OF GUTTA-PERCHA.

On the difference between gutta-percna
and India rubber. the New York Tribuns
gives the following statement:
There is such a close resemblance be-
tween gutta-percha and India rubber that
a good many people confound one with
the other. Both are obt. ired in tbs
form OF milky juice from topical trees.
but they come from different kinds OF
trees Those which yield the gutta-per-
cna are known TO the botanists as the
Sapota muIleri aud the Isonandra eutta
whereas rubber is obtained from certain
species of the Apocyanaceae Euphorbia-
eeae and Ortieaceae. Moreover, caout-
choue is so elastic at ordinary tempera-
lures tnat bit of ii will stretch 70 sew
erai times its original length. whereas
gutta-percha is more like ivory ubeD
cool IL has elasticity, to be sure. but IL
Is the elasticity of a billiard bali rather
than OF return-ban string
Rubber is applied to an ainos- inf
mite variety Of uses in the arts. whfI,
sutta-percha is now seldom employed for
anything put an insulating cover for sub
marine telegraph cables although n vs.
once worked up into buttons and n MN
Der OF other small nodded objects oairo,
very plastic when warmed. Then. again.
there Is a distinct difference in he chemi-
cal constitution of pure rubber snI gut
ta-percha- moleeule Of .ne former
contains eight atoms of carbon and four
teen OF hydrogen. and one Of the latter
contains ten atoms OF carbon to sixteen
of hydrogen.
Within the last few years the worlds
supply of gutta-percha has deterioratcd
In quality, if II has not diminished In
quantity. Certainly the amount Of first
class gum has decreased This state OF
Things results from the recxIessneSss of
the producers in the East Indies Inc
juice OF the caoUtchOuc tree = obtained
by merely tapping the tree. hat il Vas
long customary-though prhd9s not nee
essary-to cut the gutta-perc1a tree en-
ureiy down in order 10 g-I it, milky pro
dust That practice could be carried on
for short time without serious harm
but in time it killed the goose which all
the golden eggs for the people e.1-azzd in
the industry
The juice of the gutta-percha contains
two other hydrocarbons besides the. ona
which gives its name TO the tree Now
the proportion OF these different elements
In the Juice varies greatly Besides in
the work OF collecting the stuff more or
less dirt gets in. In both Of these re-
spects the quality Of the gum sent 20
MAJ AdtriS IleS Idllcn OIL II therefore
happens that in spite of an increased de-
mand the price of crude gutta-percha has
fallen in the last few years from IS to
scarcely &c picul q53 pounds.) Rubber
meantime has remained very steady at
the same ports. Its price. by the way. az
Sarawak. BorneO. has long been about
f6 1-2 picul
Some enort has been made in the East
Indies to cultivate trees that will produce
high grade of gum. but these expert
ments are so slow in yielding any return
that the venture is not an encouraging
one One must wait so long 10 begin to
make any profit that it hardly seems
practicable to attain the desired result By
private enterprise. Governmental sUbsi-
dies may prove TO be necessary. Just now
England, which has the most famous and
exclusive cable mandatory in the world.
is the chief consumer OF gutta-percha.
During the last few years her annual i'm
portation has ranged from 80 10 10 tons.
but during the first four months Of 1895
she imported not less than 626 tons"