The evening times., 1898-10-15
WASTE OF GUTTA-PERCHA.

On the difference between gutta- percna
and India rubber. the New York Tribune
gives the following statement:
There is such a close resemblance be.
tween gutta-percha and India rubber that
good many people confound one with
the other. Both are obtained in the
form of a milky juice from tropical trees.
but they come from different kinds of
trees Those which yield the gutta-per-
cha are known to the botanists as the
Sapota mulleri and the Isonandra gutta,
whereas rubber Is obtained from certain
species of the Apocyanaceae Euphorbia-
ceae and Urticaceae. Moreover, caout-
chouc is so elastic at ordinary tempera-
lures that a bit of IL will stretch to sew
eral times it's original length, whereas
gutta-percha Is more like ivory when
cool. 1T has elasticity, to be sure, but it
Is the elasticity of a billiard ball rather
than of return-ball string.
Rubber is applied to an almost inf.
mite variety of uses in the arts, while
gutta-pereha is now seldom employed Tor
anything but an insulating cover for sub
marine telegraph cables. although it Was
once worked up into buttons and num-
Der of other small nodded objects, oeirg
there is a distinct difference in the ckemi-
cal constitution of pure rubber eui gut
ta-percha. molecule of the former
contains eight atoms OF carbon and four.
teen of hydrogen, and one of the latter
contains ten atoms of carbon 10 sixteen
of hydrogen
within the last few years the worlds S
supply OF gutta-percha has deteriorated
IN quality, If it has not diminished in
quantity. Certainly the amount Of first
class gum has decreased. This state OF
things results from the rec<lessness of
the producers in the East Indies The
juice of the caoutchouc tree - obtained
by merely tapping the tree, but ii Was
long customary-though prhaps not nee
essary-to cut the gutta-percaa tree en-
tirely down in order to get its milky pro-
duct. That practice could be carried on
for short time without serious harm.
but in time ii killed the goose which aid
the golden eggs for the people engaged in
| the industry.
The juice of the gutta-percha contains
two other hydrocarbons besides the one
which gives its name 10 the tree Now
the proportion of these different elements
III 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 to
market lately has fallen off. 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 GS 10
scarcely &c picul 035 pounds.) Rubber
meantime has remained very steady at
the same ports. Its price, by the way, at
Sarawak, BOrneO, has long been about
IS I-2 picul.
Some effort has been made in the East
Indies to cultivate trees that will produce
a high grade of gum, but these expert
ments are 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 ii hardly seems
practicable to attain The desired result by
private enterprise. Governmental subsi-
dies may prove 10 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 Eer annual i'm
portation has ranged from 80 to 100 tons.
but during the first four months OF 1895
she imported not less than 626 tons.