1868 The complete Practical Distiller

CONTINUOUS DISTILLATION.

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admission-pipe as to cause the perfect distillation of the liquor in its passage to the regulating tube. The spirit which rises in the head of this improved still will be found much stronger and purer than that ob- tained from stills of the ordinary construction, where the spirituous vapour is much mixed with aqueous matter and other impurities. The channels may be extended to any length required, over a bottom of any dimensions, by contracting their breadth. Stills upon this principle may be made of all sizes and shapes, round, square, or other- wise ; and the partitions may be placed in concentric or eccentric circles, with openings on their sides at such dis- tances as shall cause the liquor to flow over the most ex- tended surface of bottom ; or the still may be square, with angular partitions ranged as a labyrinth, or in any other manner, so as to cause the run of the liquor to be greatly extended over the surface of the boiler. The bottom of these stills may be either flat, concave, convex, conical, or of any other form ; and the entrance of the liquor into the still, and also its discharging aper- ture, may be at the side, in the middle, or elsewhere^ as circumstances may dictate. Boilers or evaporators may be made on this plan, either with or without heads, and their capacity of working may in all cases be increased by placing layers of pipes, connected thereto, within the flues, between the still and chimney ; which pipes may be bent or coiled in a serpentine direction or in any other position, and the liquor to be operated upon made to pass through them previous to its entering the still : thus the operation may be advanced to any required state of for- wardness. Stills of the above description, particularly if 6*