Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/151

DISTILLATION 143 sing into the worm, whose use will present- be explained. From next to the last egg, or from any one of the series, an extra tube, C, also passes into the globe B, by which arrange- ment one or more of the eggs may be dispensed with when the distillation does not need to be carried very high. Another pipe, D, connects each egg and also the boiler with a small worm, V, which is used for testing the strength of the distillate in any one of the eggs, or from the boiler. Another pipe, E, leads from the cooler F into the boiler, and an- other, H, into the cooler from the storehouse where the wines are kept. The worm in the cooler F, moreover, leads into another worm in the cooler G. This still is worked in the following manner: The cocks connecting the upper tubes are closed, and those in the lower pipe, E, are opened. The wine is pumped from the storehouse through the tube H into the cooler F, whence it flows into the boiler. When this is about two thirds full the cock next it is closed, and the wine is forced up into the first egg; when this is about half filled the cock next it is closed, when the second egg is treated in the same manner ; and so on through the series, except the last one, which serves as a condenser and is surrounded with cold water. The lower cocks are now closed, and the upper ones communicating between the eggs, and with the worm, are opened. Heat is applied to the boiler, and the mixture of alcoholic and watery vapor is carried into the first egg, and there condensed by the wine, quite rapidly in the beginning of the process, so that for a time no vapor passes over into the second egg. The wine in the first egg, however, gradually comes to its boiling point, which, by reason of its containing more alco- hol than that in the boiler, is at a lower tem- perature. In consequence, the vapor which passes into the second egg has a greater per- centage of alcohol than that which it received. This vapor, being condensed, will cause the liquor in the second egg to be stronger than in the first, and therefore to boil at a still lower temperature. The successive eggs, as they re- cede from the boiler, will thus contain strong- er and stronger spirits, so that the last one may be made to receive alcoholic vapor of any desired strength. This is passed into the worm in F and condensed either in that or in the succeeding worm in the tub below, which is filled with water, kept cool by a constant flow. The upper cooler, containing the wine, is kept closed, except that a pipe leads into the globe B. This arrangement is for the purpose of preventing loss of spirit by evaporation, which would be considerable at the temperature it attains by contact with the worm. The excise laws of Great Britain prevented the introduc- tion of this still into that country until after their modification in 1815. Adam's apparatus was in the mean time much improved in France by Isaac B6 rard, Cellier-Blumenthal, and Derosne. The modification of Cellier-Blumenthal, im- 266 VOL. vi. 10 proved by Derosne, and now called Derosne's still, is represented in fig. 4. It consists of two boilers, A, A' ; a first rectificator, B ; a second rectificator, C ; a wine heater, D, con- taining a dephlegmator ; a condenser, F; a supply regulator, E, for controlling the flow of wine from the reservoir G, which is accom- plished by means of a floating ball. The still is worked in the following manner: The boil- ers are about two thirds filled with wine, or the liquor to be subjected to distillation, FIG. 4. Derosne's Still. through the cocks c, c'. The proper quantity is indicated by the glass gauges d, d'. Wine from the reservoir G is then let into the funnel J, by which the condenser F and the wine heater D are filled. On the application of heat the low-wine vapors pass from the lower into the upper boiler through the pipe Z, the extremity of which is enlarged and perforated with small holes. Here the vapors are con- densed, increasing the strength of the wine in