36 On the Process of making Spirits in 



the analyzer. In its passage it abstracts from these layers 

 of wash their alcohol, depositing in its place an equivalent 

 quantity of water. After traversing the whole of the ana- 

 lyzer, the vapour, now containing much alcohol, passes by 

 the pipe i i, into the bottom of the rectifier, and, as it 

 ascends, it envelopes the pipes mm, heating the wash, and, 

 at the same time, parting with its more watery portion, 

 which is condensed, and falls, in a boiling state, on the 

 several diaphragms of the rectifier. By the time the vapour 

 reaches the passage W, in the bottom of the finished spirit- 

 condenser, it is nearly pure alcohol, and, as it is condensed 

 by the wash in the pipes, and falls on the diaphragm, it is 

 conveyed away by the pipe y to a refrigerator. At the top 

 of the spirit condenser is a large pipe, R, which serves as a 

 vent for the incondensible gas which is disengaged in the pro- 

 cess, and this pipe also communicates with the refrigerator, 

 so that, should vapour at any time be sufficient to pass out 

 of the apparatus, no loss is sustained beyond the waste of 

 fuel caused by condensing that vapour by the water of the 

 refrigerator instead of the wash of the condenser. 



The liquor condensed on the several diaphragms of the 

 rectifier, after being blown through by the vapour passing 

 up from plate to plate, descends to the bottom in the same 

 manner as the wash descends from chamber to chamber in 

 the analyzer ; but this condensed liquor still contains a 

 portion of alcohol, and it is conveyed by the pipe S to the 

 pump Q, by which it is pumped up with the wash to be 

 again distilled. 



A thermometer at m shews the attendant the temperature 

 of the wash as it issues from the pipe m m, into the ana- 

 lyzer, which is the only guide he requires for managing the 

 operation ; for, when the temperature is what it should be, 

 nothing can go wrong in the work. Whenever the ther- 

 mometer indicates too high a temperature more wash should 

 be let into the apparatus, and vice versa; the quantity being 

 regulated by the cock on the pipe n. It would seem, how- 

 ever, that very little nicety is requisite on this point. The 

 attendant finds by experience that the fluctuation of a few 

 degrees above or below the proper heat is of little conse- 

 quence ; and, we observed, that he very seldom found it 

 necessary to alter the supply of \va*h. 



