Chemical Beginner

It is the salt extracted from the ash or lime original: "calce"; the powdery residue left after a substance has been heated or burned of all bodies, and whether these be liquid or solid, it is inherent to all things in its own right.

Sublimation

This occurs when an extract is driven into the upper part of a vessel and settles there, or when an airy gap remains between the sublimate the purified material that has risen and re-solidified and the caput mortuum: literally "dead head," the worthless dregs or residue remaining at the bottom of the vessel after the process is complete. The method for it is as follows: the substance to be sublimated is prepared as is appropriate—namely, either by washing, or calcination: the process of heating a substance to high temperatures in the presence of air to break it down, roasting, boiling, and so on. Afterward, it is placed into a longer cucurbit a gourd-shaped boiling vessel, which is called an Aludel: a pear-shaped glass or ceramic vessel used specifically as a receiver in sublimation, or into a flask, most often one with a flat bottom, though sometimes a spherical one; the vessel is filled to one quarter, leaving three parts empty.

The upright cucurbit is made of stone or glass, yet is luted: coated with "lute," a protective paste of clay and other materials to seal joints and protect the vessel from the heat of the fire, projecting out from the furnace. Upon this is placed a beaked alembic: the "cap" or head of the still that collects and directs vapors, or a "blind" alembic one without a pouring spout perforated at the top so that the humid spirits original: "spiritus humidi"; the watery or volatile vapors released during heating may escape. Afterward, fire is applied by degrees a gradual increase in temperature, and then the presence or the flight of the humid spirits is tested by means of a small knife or a plate