Gutta-percha
Gutta-percha is an inelastic latex is discovered in 1842, and much used until superior materials were developed late in the 19th century. It serves as a reliable insulator in water (reliable, but not great capacitance).Gutta-percha is made from the resin of the Isonandra Gutta tree of Malaya. Allowing this fluid to evaporate and coagulate in the sun produced a latex which could be made flexible again with hot water, but did not become brittle like unvulcanized rubber already in use.
By 1845 telegraph wires insulated with gutta-percha were being manufactured in England.
Gutta-percha served as the insulating material for the earliest undersea telegraph cables, including the first Transatlantic telegraph cable.
Within a few years it was also being used for many other goods, from golf balls to dental fillings.
