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[[File:The Reels of Gutta-percha Covered Conducting Wire Conveyed into Tanks at the Works of the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company, at Greenwich MET DP801249.jpg|thumb|Cable manufacturing with gutta-percha at the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company in [[Greenwich]], London, ''circa'' 1865]]
[[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 -->]]
Scientifically classified in 1843, it was found to be a useful natural [[thermoplastic]]. In 1851, {{convert|30000|long cwt|kg|abbr=on|lk=in}} of gutta-percha was imported into Britain.<ref name=GPC/> During the second half of the 19th century, gutta-percha was used for many domestic and industrial purposes,<ref>{{cite book |title=The Devil's Milk |last=Tully |first=John |date=2011 |publisher=NYU Press}}</ref> and it became a household word. In particular, due to the fact that this material does not degrade when immersed in seawater and moreover that it
According to Harvey Wickes Felter and John Uri Lloyd's ''Endodontology'': {{quote|Even long before Gutta-percha was introduced into the Western world, it was used in a less processed form by the natives of the Malaysian archipelago for making knife handles, walking sticks, and other purposes. The first European to discover this material was [[John Tradescant the Younger|John Tradescant]], who collected it in the far east in 1656. He named this material "Mazer wood". Dr. William Montgomerie, a medical officer in Indian service, introduced gutta-percha into practical use in the West. He was the first to appreciate the potential of this material in medicine, and he was awarded the gold medal by the Royal Society of Arts, London in 1843.<ref name=prakesh>Harvey Wickes Felter and John Uri Lloyd. [http://medind.nic.in/eaa/t05/i2/eaat05i2p32.pdf "Gutta-Percha-: An Untold Story. Prakesh et al. ~2001 Endodontology"]. King's American Dispensatory http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed/eclectic/kings isonandra.html {{dead link|date=December 2016}}</ref>}}
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