Emily Dickinson Lexicon

GUM-ELASTIC, or ELASTIC-GUM, n. [caoutchouc,]

A singular substance, obtained from a tree in America by incision. It is a white juice, which, when dry, becomes very tough and elastic, and is used for bottles, surgical instruments, for overshoes, &c. This substance will probably be used for various other purposes, being perfectly impermeable to water. Nicholson. Encyc.