Editing Gutta-percha (section)

===Historic=== 
[[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 -->]]

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 study this material was [[John Tradescant the Younger|John Tradescant]], who collected it in the far east in 1656. He named this material "Mazer wood". [[William Montgomerie]], a medical officer in imperial 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. [https://web.archive.org/web/20200511081759/http://medind.nic.in/eaa/t05/i2/eaat05i2p32.pdf "Gutta-Percha-: An Untold Story. Prakesh et al. ~2001 Endodontology"]. King's American Dispensatory.</ref>

Scientifically classified in 1843, it was found to be a useful natural [[thermoplastic]]. In 1851, {{convert|30000|long cwt|t|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> Compared to rubber, it does not degrade in seawater, is not damaged by marine life, and maintains good [[electrical insulation]].<ref name = "bdm"/> These properties, along with its mouldability and flexibility made it ideal for the purpose, with 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 [[unsustainable]] harvesting and collapse of supply.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tully |first1=John |title=A Victorian Ecological Disaster: Imperialism, the Telegraph, and Gutta-Percha |journal=Journal of World History |date=2009 |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=559–579 |id={{Project MUSE|367792}} |doi=10.1353/jwh.0.0088 |s2cid=144216751 }}</ref>

====Electrical====
Gutta-percha latex is biologically [[Chemically inert|inert]], resilient, and is a good electrical insulator with a high [[dielectric strength]].<ref name = "bdm">{{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>

[[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 [[vulcanization]].{{citation needed|date=November 2016}}

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 {{val|25e14}} to {{val|370e14|u=Ω⋅cm}}. <ref> {{cite report |author=Curtis, H.L. |title=Dielectric Constant, Power Factor and Resistivity of Rubber and Gutta_Percha |url=https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/nbstechnologic/nbstechnologicpaperT299.pdf |publisher=United States N.I.S.T. }}</ref>

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>

====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 Sumner, May 1856 - Old State House Museum, Boston, MA - IMG 6685.jpg|thumb|right|The gutta-percha cane used by [[Preston Brooks]] to attack [[Charles Sumner]] on the floor of the [[United States Senate]] in 1856 (in the collection of the [[Old State House (Boston)|Old State House]] museum, [[Boston, Massachusetts]])]]
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<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/gutta-percha/ | title=Gutta Percha | accessdate=10 January 2025 | author=Clapp, Wiley}}</ref> 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 Representative [[Preston Brooks]] used a cane made of gutta-percha as a weapon in [[Caning of Charles Sumner|his attack]] on Senator [[Charles Sumner]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Green |first=Michael S. |date=2010 |title=Politics and America in Crisis: The Coming of the Civil War |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x80_kiWmx58C&pg=PA94 |location=Santa Barbara, CA |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=94 |isbn=978-0-313-08174-3 |via= Google Books}}</ref>

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? |work=The Guardian |first=Paul |last=McInnes |date=16 June 2022 |access-date=1 October 2023}}</ref>

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}}