New Philosophical Furnaces

PART ONE OF PHILOSOPHICAL FURNACES.

On the Preparation of the First Furnace.

A large decorative woodcut initial 'Q' containing an etched landscape with a building and a tree.Regarding the first furnace, it can be built as large or as small as one wishes, taking into account the quantity of the material to be distilled, etc. It may be either round or square, and made either of bricks or by a potter out of clay. However, it requires a diameter of one span original: "spithamæ"; a span is an ancient unit of measurement, approximately 9 inches or 23 centimeters, representing the distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger. (measured internally, of course) and a height of four spans: specifically, one span from the bottom up to the grate, another span from the grate to the opening original: "foramen"; a hole or aperture in the furnace wall. intended for throwing in charcoal; and two spans from this opening up to the top of the pipe original: "fistulæ"; here referring to the flue or chimney-like outlet of the furnace., which must emerge at least one span out of the furnace, so that the receiving vessels do not grow hot due to their proximity to the furnace. The pipe should also have a diameter at its front part corresponding to a third of the internal diameter of the furnace, and it should be slightly wider at the back than at the front. Let the grate grate: "craticula", the metal framework used to hold fuel in a furnace while allowing ash to fall through and air to circulate. be of such a kind that it can be removed and cleaned as desired if it becomes blocked by the material thrown in to be distilled. For it is easily blocked during the distillation of salts which melt together with the charcoal, whereby air is denied to the fire and, consequently, the distillation is hindered. Or, let two robust iron rods be placed across the furnace, upon which four or five other smaller rods may rest, separated from one another by a distan—