New Philosophical Furnaces

10

as you please. The topmost receiving vessel, just like all the others, must also be left open. To the lower one, as has been said, is attached a piped basin original: "scutella fistulata"; a shallow dish or saucer with a protruding tube or spout for drainage.. Through its pipe, the distilled spirits In 17th-century chemistry, "spirits" refers to the volatile, liquid essence captured through distillation. flow down into another glass vessel placed there. When this is full, it is removed and another is substituted; because it is attached without luting original: "lutatione"; the process of sealing joints with a paste or "lute" to make them airtight., it can be changed easily. If you wish to distill anything else, you must remove and clean it, and then reattach the cleaned vessel very tightly to the neck of the lower receiver (namely, the piped basin) so that no spirits can escape. If the piped basin cannot be joined so tightly that nothing escapes, pour in one spoonful of water; for this acts as a seal and does not harm the spirits, because the water is separated again during rectification original: "rectificatione"; the process of purifying a liquid by distilling it a second or third time..

Concerning Sublimation Vessels.

There is no need to make these out of glass or from the special kind of earth capable of retaining spirits mentioned above, provided they are made from good, common potter's clay original: "terra figulina" and are well-glazed on the inside. They should be of the form and shape shown in the accompanying illustration.

This refers to an illustration (likely on a separate plate or following page) showing the specific stacked geometry of vessels used for sublimation, where solids are heated to a vapor and then collected as a crust.

However, one must choose a good earth capable of withstanding the fire, for the lower pots become so hot from the fire that they would break if they were not made from high-quality earth.

Now I shall also explain the general method of distillation, as well as the practical steps original: "manualia"; the hands-on techniques or "manuals" of the craft. necessary in any distillation.