1868 The complete Practical Distiller

CONTINUOUS DISTILLATION.

17

of

if not pernicious in

that

the

distillation

coolers,

brandies, were useless. Consequently the use of them was dropped, as was also the pipe or tube called the hJaclcamoor^s head. But whether the still-head be conical or otherwise, its uses are always the same, viz. to receive the vapours caused by the ebullition of the liquid, and to transmit them through the dif- ferent tubes that surround the still-head and form a part of it. These tubes present the figure of a trun- cated cone, the smallest diameter of which is the most distant from the head. Every vessel composed of copper in a distillery should be well tinned, and continually examined ; otherwise a deterioration will occur. The acid of wine as well as that of ardent spirits, corroding the copper, will form verdigris, which will be mixed and dis- tilled with the liquor. In describing the stills of this country and Great Britain, it is necessary to observe that all distillatory vessels are either alembics or retorts. The former consists of an inferior vessel, called the cwcwrZ>/^, designed to contain the matter to be examined, and having the upper part fixed to it called the capital, or head. In this last the vapours are condensed by the contact of the surrounding air; or, in other cases, by the assistance of cold water enclosing the head, in a vessel called the refrigeratory, or cooler. From the lower part of the capital, or still- head, a tube proceeds, called the r?ose, nozel, heaJc, or spoutj through which the vapours, after condensation, are made to flow into a vessel called the receiver, which has usually been spherical. Receivers have had several names, according to their