STRONG DRINK JND TOBACCO S3I0KE. 57 



DISTILLATION. 



The ordinary metliod of distilling Distillers' Wash, 

 and the only one formerly practised, is by boiling 

 it in a closely-covered copper vessel, the head of 

 which is attached to a pipe of considerable length, 

 surrounded by cold water. In this pipe the impure 

 vapour of spirit, called " Low Wines," is condensed in a 

 receiver, and again subjected to the same process to 

 extract the pure spirit. By this process there are four 

 different products obtained by two distillations : in the 

 first, a very impure spirit distils over, known as Low 

 AVines, which has a most nauseous smell and taste. 

 After being collected in a receiver, this is again dis- 

 tilled, the product being a tolerably pure spirit and 

 an essential oil, called Feints ; and a fourth product, 

 in not very abundant quantity, Fusel oil. 



Of late years the practice of distilling by steam 

 with " Coffey's Apparatus " has become very common ; 

 it is a very interesting process, and will be easily 

 understood on reference to the illustration. The appa- 

 ratus consists essentially of two large upright wooden 

 or iron boxes, divided at intervals into compartments 

 by a series of perforated copper plates (represented 

 by the dotted lines), called the Analyser and the 

 Rectijier. Each plate of the analyser is, in addition, 

 furnished with a pipe {p), inserted into it and rising 



