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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. Gutta-percha was particularly important for the manufacture of [[submarine communications cable#Construction|underwater telegraph cables]].<ref name=GPC>Bill Burns, [http://atlantic-cable.com/Article/GuttaPercha/ The Gutta Percha Company], atlantic-cable.com, accessed 6 October 2010.</ref> Indeed, it made them possible. It does not degrade in seawater and is a good electrical insulator. These properties, along with its mouldability and flexibility made it ideal for the purpose. There was no other material to match it in the 19th century.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Aitken |first1=Frédéric |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=2019 |publisher=ISTE-WILEY |location=London, UK |isbn=9781786303745 |pages=16-38 |url=http://www.iste.co.uk/book.php?id=1474 |chapter=1}}</ref> The use in electrical cables generated a huge demand which led to [[sustainability|unsustainable]] harvesting and collapse of supply.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Tully|first=John|title=A Victorian Ecological Disaster: Imperialism, the Telegraph, and Gutta-Percha|journal=Journal of World History|year=2009|volume=20|issue=4|pages=559–579|doi=10.1353/jwh.0.0088|s2cid=144216751}} [http://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/journal_of_world_history/v020/20.4.tully.html muse.jhu.edu]</ref>▼
▲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. Gutta-percha was particularly important for the manufacture of [[submarine communications cable#Construction|underwater telegraph cables]].<ref name=GPC>Bill Burns, [http://atlantic-cable.com/Article/GuttaPercha/ The Gutta Percha Company], atlantic-cable.com, accessed 6 October 2010.</ref> Indeed, it made them possible. It does not degrade in seawater and is a good electrical insulator. These properties, along with its mouldability and flexibility made it ideal for the purpose. There was no other material to match it in the 19th century.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Aitken |first1=Frédéric |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=2019 |publisher=ISTE-WILEY |location=London, UK |isbn=9781786303745 |pages=16-38 |url=http://www.iste.co.uk/book.php?id=1474 |chapter=1}}</ref> The use in electrical cables generated a huge demand which led to [[sustainability|unsustainable]] harvesting and collapse of supply.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Tully|first=John|title=A Victorian Ecological Disaster: Imperialism, the Telegraph, and Gutta-Percha|journal=Journal of World History|year=2009|volume=20|issue=4|pages=559–579|doi=10.1353/jwh.0.0088|s2cid=144216751}} [http://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/journal_of_world_history/v020/20.4.tully.html muse.jhu.edu]</ref>
====Electrical====
Gutta-percha latex is biologically [[Chemically inert|inert]], resilient, and is a good [[nonconductor|electrical insulator]] with a high [[dielectric strength]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Manappallil |first1=John J. |title=Basic Dental Materials |date=30 November 2015 |publisher=JP Medical Ltd |isbn=978-93-5250-048-2 |page=219 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7cAqCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA219 |language=en}}</ref> The wood of many species is also valuable.{{citation needed|date=November 2016}}
Western inventors discovered the properties of gutta-percha latex in 1842 through samples sent to England by
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}}
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