New Philosophical Furnaces

PART I.

...found ways of distilling; and even by the best method they could scarcely distill a single pound in the space of 24 or 30 hours, using 50, 60, or 100 pounds of charcoal original: "carbonum"; referring to the fuel source for the furnace.. The reason was that little effort was applied to the process, and few possessed the correct and good method; consequently, its powers remained unknown.

And I wanted to point this out for this reason: so it may be clear how precious this spirit In 17th-century chemistry, a "spirit" was a volatile substance obtained by distillation, often an acid or alcohol. has been until now, and how easily and abundantly it can now be produced by my newly invented method, with very little expense.

It was stated above that materials in this method of distillation are cast directly into the fire; however, this must be taken with discretion. For although some species may be cast directly into the fire without any preparation, it does not follow that each and every one should be. One must use judgment with certain materials, such as in the distillation of salt. For if salt were cast directly into the fire, not only would it yield no spirit, but it would dance original: "saltaturus"; a reference to decrepitation, the crackling or "jumping" sound salt makes when its water content expands and breaks the crystals upon heating. upon the coals until it found its way down to the bottom of the furnace.

This, however, can be prevented in various ways; and first by this method: Dissolve the salt in common water, then extinguish live coals in this water so that they are impregnated with the salt. Afterward, allow these to be consumed in the furnace after they are lit. However, one must first throw in other live (burning) coals, and then place the salt-impregnated ones on top, filling the furnace to the top as mentioned before. As the coals burn, the salt is resolved into spirit by the power of the fire.

Vocabulary: distillation, spirit, charcoal (coal), furnace, salt, fire, common water

B 2