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'''Gutta-percha''' is a tree of the genus ''[[Palaquium]]'' in the family [[Sapotaceae]]. The name also refers to the rigid, naturally biologically [[Chemically inert|inert]], resilient, electrically [[nonconductor|nonconductive]], [[thermoplastic]] [[latex]] derived from the tree, particularly from ''[[Palaquium gutta]]''; it is a polymer of [[isoprene]] which forms a rubber-like [[elastomer]].
The word "gutta-percha" comes from the plant's name in [[Malay language|Malay]]: ''getah'' translates as "[[latex]]"
==Description==
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[[File:The pagan tribes of Borneo; a description of their physical, moral and intellectual condition, with some discussion of their ethnic relations (1912) (14598075089).jpg|thumb|right|Members of a [[Kayan people (Borneo)|Kayan]] tribe in [[Borneo]] harvesting the sap of a gutta-percha tree {{circa}} 1910<!-- Published in 1912 -->]]
Long before
Scientifically classified in 1843, it was found to be a useful natural [[thermoplastic]]. In 1851, {{convert|30000|long cwt|
====Electrical====
Gutta-percha latex is biologically [[Chemically inert|inert]], resilient, and is a good
[[Michael Faraday]] discovered its value as an insulator soon after the introduction of the material to Britain in 1843.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Atlantic Telegraph: Its History, from the Commencement of the Undertaking in 1854, to the Sailing of the "Great Eastern" in 1866.| publisher=Bacon and Company | year=1866| page=108|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CwszAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA108}}</ref> Allowing this fluid to evaporate and coagulate in the sun produced a latex which could be made flexible again with hot water, but which did not become brittle, unlike [[rubber]] prior to the discovery of [[
By 1845, telegraph wires insulated with gutta-percha were being manufactured in the UK. It served as the insulating material for early undersea telegraph cables, including the first [[transatlantic telegraph cable]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schlesinger |first1=Henry |title=The battery how portable power sparked a technological revolution |date=2010 |publisher=HarperCollins e-books |location=New York |isbn=9780061985294}}</ref> The material was a major constituent of [[Chatterton's compound]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Prescott |first1=George Bartlett |title=Electricity and the Electric Telegraph |date=1881 |publisher=D. Appleton |page=956 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YbhLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA956 |language=en}}</ref> used as an [[electrical insulation|insulating sealant]] for telegraph and other electrical cables.{{citation needed|date=November 2016}}
The dielectric constant of dried gutta-percha ranges from 2.56 to 3.01. Resistivity of dried gutta-percha ranges from
Since about 1940, [[polyethylene]] has supplanted gutta-percha as an electrical insulator.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Aitken |first1=Frederic |last2=Foulc |first2=Jean-Numa |title=From Deep Sea to Laboratory 1: The First Explorations of the Deep Sea by H.M.S. Challenger (1872-1876) |date=30 April 2019 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-78630-374-5 |page=20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5WWRDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA20 |language=en}}</ref>
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====Other====
[[File:Southern Chivalry.jpg|thumb|right|Lithograph depicting the [[caning of Charles Sumner]] with a cane made of gutta-percha]]
[[File:Walking cane used to assault Senator Charles
In the mid-19th century, gutta-percha was used to make furniture, notably by the [[Gutta Percha Company]], established in 1847.<ref name=GPC/> Several of these ornate, revival-style pieces were shown at the 1851 [[Great Exhibition]] in Hyde Park, London. The company also made a range of utensils.<ref>{{cite book |location=London) |first1= |title=Great Exhibition (1851) Reports by the Juries on the Subjects in the Thirty Classes Into which the Exhibition was Divided: Reports, classes XXIX, XXX |date=1852 |publisher=Spicer Brothers |page=1740 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bZdDAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA1740 |language=en|volume=4}}</ref>
The "[[guttie]]" golf ball (which had a solid gutta-percha core) revolutionized the game.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burke |first1=James |title=Circles: Fifty Round Trips Through History Technology Science Culture |date=8 September 2003 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0-7432-4976-8 |page=86 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oz-0bacLB60C&pg=PA86 |language=en}}</ref> Gutta-percha was used to make "mourning" jewelry, because it was dark in color and could be easily molded into beads or other shapes.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Loeffel-Atkins |first1=Bernadette |title=Widow's Weeds and Weeping Veils: Mourning Rituals in 19th Century America |date=1 April 2012 |publisher=Gettysburg Publishing |isbn=978-1-7346276-1-9 |page=19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vxnhDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA19 |language=en}}</ref> Pistol hand grips and rifle shoulder pads were also made from gutta-percha, since it was hard and durable, though it fell into disuse when synthetic [[plastic]]s such as [[Bakelite]] became available.
Gutta-percha was used in canes and walking sticks. In 1856, United States
In the 1860s, gutta-percha was used to reinforce the soles of football players' boots before it was banned by [[The Football Association]] in the first codified set of rules in 1863.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/jun/16/football-proposed-new-law-trials-good-idea-kick-ins-flying-substitutions-dribbling-free-kicks-30-minute-halves |title='Faster, sportier, fairer': are football's proposed new law trials a good idea? |
Gutta-percha was briefly used in [[bookbinding]] until the advent of [[vulcanization]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Bythell|first=Shaun|title=Confessions of a Bookseller|place=Boston|publisher=[[Godine]]|date=2022|page=51|isbn=978-1-56792-722-1}}</ref>
The wood of many species is also valuable.{{citation needed|date=November 2016}}
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==Substitutes==
Gutta-percha remained an industrial staple well into the 20th century, when it was gradually replaced with superior synthetic materials such as [[Bakelite]], though a similar and cheaper natural material called ''[[balatá]]'' was often used in gutta-percha's place. The two materials are almost identical, and ''balatá ''is often called ''gutta-balatá''.{{citation needed|date=November 2016}}
==See also==
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