Gutta-percha is a substance possessing many useful and valuable
properties; it was unknown in Europe until within a very recent date,
though it is said to have been in common use, for a long period
previous to our discovery of its utility, amongst the natives of
the Indian Archipelago, chiefly for making axe-handles. It is the
concrete juice of a large tree, supposed to be the _Isonandra Gutta_,
and is brought to Europe in irregular masses of a brown color, and
contains various impurities which are easily got rid of by working
it in hot water. Gutta-percha possesses the desirable properties of
being solid, slightly elastic, not brittle, and very tough, capable
of being melted at the heat of boiling water, and being drawn out
or moulded into almost any form; it resists the action of water and
spirits, unless very strong, oils, alkalies, and weak acids, but
spirits of turpentine, chloroform, and naptha, each dissolve it. A
substance which has so many valuable properties as these, of course
enters into a multiplicity of forms and uses.