I just wanted to add that, as far as I know, gutta-percha is still
being used by dentists to pack a tooth after a root canal.  And some
additional trivia, for what it's worth: the Dutch opened up trade
routes to Indonesia to import gutta-percha and various spices.  To fund
the ships needed, they formed a company called the East India Trading
Company and sold ownership shares in the company.  This was the start
of the stock market. The settlement they founded was named New Batavia,
which is now the city of Jakarta.

Tom Rosenbusch