New Philosophical Furnaces

PART I.

...namely, and unlike the previous one original: "huic dissimilem", but suitable for distilling all the aforesaid combustible volatile spirits, such as tartar A substance (potassium bitartrate) that deposits in wine casks; a common source of chemical compounds in this period., hartshorn The antlers of a deer, which were distilled to produce "spirit of hartshorn," or ammonia., amber, sal ammoniac Ammonium chloride, used as a flux and in the preparation of various chemicals., urine, etc. By means of this [furnace], there are also produced the most subtle volatile sulfurous spirits of salts and minerals, such as common salt, vitriol A historical name for various sulfate minerals, such as iron or copper sulfate., alum, nitre Saltpeter, or potassium nitrate., antimony, and all other minerals and metals, which otherwise can scarcely be produced without this furnace; through these, wonders are performed in medicine and alchemy, as will be demonstrated more extensively in the second part.

Now I shall also give the method for making other Receivers Vessels designed to collect and condense the vapors produced during the heating process. pertaining to the first furnace, and indeed more suitable for certain labors; just as the former ones were more suitable for others; wherefore the operator can choose these or those at his pleasure.

Therefore, just as the former ones were erected upwards against a wall or a ladder, whereby the spirit ascends upward from one into another until, being cooled and condensed, it distills back down into the attached dish; so these are positioned and placed upright (in the opposite manner) as side-vessels in a basin filled with cold water for condensing the spirits; for which reason, so many Receivers are not needed. It is also necessary that these be shaped differently, not open at the top and bottom like the previous ones, but at the top only, like pots used for cooking: this, however, must be observed, that the deeper and wider they are, the better.

It is also necessary that they be coupled by means of pipes