GUTTA PERCHA THE DOWNFALL OF INDIAN RUBBER.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VI, Issue 487, 3 April 1850, Page 4

GUTTA PERCH A THE DOWNFALL OF INDIAN RUBBER.

Steam and caoutchouc were a long time looked upon as ultimates in the various uses to which they could be applied. The possibility of discovering a substitute for either was hardly dreamed of : but the possibilities of human experience can never be guessed at ; it is just as certain that the next age will surpass the present in the aids of progress, as that the present surpasses the past. In short, progress is, of necessity, infinite ; like a circle it can have no end. Steam has lost one half its consequence by the invention of the magnetic telegraph, and the universal caoutchouc will be almost entirely superseded by the discovery of a kindred element of happiness, the Gutta Fercha. ■As.the gutta percha is just coming.into use, no one half its appliances can now be surmised, but it has already been found superior to India-rubber in the majority of purposes for which that material has been used, while it is capable of being employed in many cases where India-rubber was inefficient. Gutta percha is the gum of a tree which grows on the island of Borneo, and the entire Malayan Peninsula abounds in extensive forests of this most valuable production of the tropics. The tree is very large and bears some resemblance to the India-rubber tree, but differs from it in its botanical characteristics. The sap of the tree exudes from its lacerated surface, but quickly becomes hard on being exposed to the air. It is purified by being boiled in hot water, when it becomes soft and plastic ; below the temperature of fifty degrees it is nearly as hard as wood ; it is extremely tough, but becomes plastic when it is cut into thin strips 4 at a temperature below boiling water it becomes as soft and yielding as melted wax or putty, and may be moulded into any form or stretched out thinner than the finest paper. When it cools it becomes hard tnd tough again and retains its plastic shape withpuf the slightest change by contraction, or warping. Its tenacity is wonderful, a thin ilip sustains a weight of fifty pounds ; the process of melting and cooling seems to have no effect in injuring its qualities. It burns freely and emits an odoar when ignited similar to tbat of caoutchouc ; it is easily dissolved in the oil of turpentine, but with difficulty in ether and other solvents of India-rubber. The uses of this valuable material are almost infinite ; it combines all the valuable properties of the best tanned leather, with the elasticity of caoutchouc, and a durability which neither of them possesses, and for strapping machinery supplies a want that has long heen seriously experienced. It will answer all the purposes to which leather is applied, and is immensely superior to India-rubber for boots and shoes. Indeed, the old phrase of "nothing like leather," will be deprived of its significance by the gutta percha. A leaf of gutta percha no thicker than bank note paper is as impervious to water as glass ; for umbrellas, overcoats, roofs of houses, bottoms of ships, coverings of boxes, and in all cases where protection from wet is desired, its use will be invaluable. It can be formed into gas pipes and water pipes of any size, and any degree of strength that may be required ; and used for such purposes will never decompose or wear out, and being ductile and elastic it may be applied in a thousand shapes, and for thousands of purposes where iron or lead cannot now be used. Its utilitarian uses are endless ; it will supply the place of tin, wood, copper, iron, stone and even glass, for such purposes as buckets, tubs, vases, goblets, drinking cups, and allmanner of utensils which are not used over the fire. But its uses for ornamental purposes are even more various. In England it has already been used to a considearble extent in bookbinding, and for that purpose alone it must soon entirely supersede leather. - For mouldings of all kinds, from the cornices of a house, the capitals of pillars in architecture, to the most delicate and intricate fancy work, such as snuff boxes, picture frames, knife handles, and the ornamenting of rooms, carriages, fountains, ship's cabins, steamboats, and the innumerable articles which are made to gratify the eye, it must supersede all other materials. Air, acids, and the ordinary chemical agencies have no effect upon it. It is harder than horn, softer than wax, more tenacious than caoutchouc, more durable than iron ; nothing can injure it but fire, and even that does not destroy it ; and no ordinary rub can deface it. For floor cloths it will supersede the use of all other materials, as it can be made of extreme thinness, perfectly impervious to air or water and of greater durability than any other flexible material known, In its hard state it can with difficulty be cat with a knife or a

saw, but when it is soft it can be moulded into the most delicate forms by the hand of a child. — New York Mirror.