In the _Musæum Tradescantianum, or a Collection of Rarities preserved at
South Lambeth, near London_, by John Tradescant, 1656, I find, amongst
"other variety of rarities," "the plyable Mazer wood, which, being warmed
in water, will work to any form;" and a little farther on, in the list of
"utensils and household stuffe," I also find "Mazer dishes." In my opinion,
it is more than a coincidence that Doctor Montgomery, who, in 1843,
received the gold medal of the Society of Arts for bringing gutta percha
and its useful properties under the notice of that body, describes it in
almost the same words that Tradescant uses when speaking of the pliable
Mazer wood: the Doctor says, "it could be moulded into any form by merely
dipping it into boiling water." It is worthy of remark that Tradescant, who
was the first botanist of his day, seems to have been uncertain of the true
nature of the "Mazer wood," for he does not class it with his "gums,
rootes, woods;" but, as before observed, in a heterogeneous collection
which he styles "other variety of rarities." Presuming, as I do, that this
Mazer wood was what we now term gutta percha, the question may be
propounded, how could Tradescant have procured it from its remote _locale_?
The answer is easy. In another part of the _Musæum Tradescantianum_ may be
found a list of the "benefactors" to the collection; and amongst their
names occurs that of William Curteen, Esq. Now this William Curteen and his
father Sir William, of Flemish Descent, were the most extensive British
merchants of the time, and had not only ships trading to, but also
possessed forts and factories on, some of the islands of the Eastern
Archipelago, the native _habitat_ of the sapotaceous tree that yields the
gutta percha. Curteen was a collector of curiosities himself, and no doubt
his captains and agents were instructed to procure such: in short, a
specimen of gutta percha was just as likely to attract the attention of an
intelligent Englishman at Amboyna in the fifteenth century, as it did at
Singapore in the nineteenth.
If there are still any remains of Tradescant's collection in the Ashmolean
Museum at Oxford, the question, whether the Mazer wood was gutta percha or
not, might be soon set at rest; but it is highly probable that the men who
ordered the relics of the Dodo to be thrown out, showed but little ceremony
to the Mazer wood or dishes.
A curious instance of a word, not very dissimilar to Mazer, may be found in
Eric Red's Saga, part of the _Flatö Annals_, supposed to be written in the
tenth century, and one of the authorities for the pre-Columbian discovery
of America by the Icelanders. Karlsefne, one of the heroes of the Saga,
while his ship was detained by a contrary wind in a Norwegian port, was
accosted by a German, who wished to purchase his, Karlsefne's, broom.
"'I will not sell it,' said Karlsefne. 'I will give you half a mark in
gold for it,' said the German man. Karlsefne thought this a good offer,
and thereupon concluded the bargain. The German man went away with the
broom. Karlsefne did not know what wood it was; but it was _Mæsur_,
which had come from Wineland!"
Perhaps some reader may give an instance of Mazer wood being mentioned by
other writers; or inform me if the word Mazer, in itself, had any peculiar
signification.