Alembic for distilling Amalgam of Gold. 69 
here to the bottom of the alembic. The beak is screwed and rusted 
into the top of the capital so that the joint may be steam tight. In 
the other end of the beak is a female screw to receive the screw 
which is in the mouth of the condenser. 
Fig. 2. 
After the inside of the cucurbit has been rubbed with chalk, to 
prevent the gold from adhering to the iron, in case the former should 
‘melt, the amalgam is weighed and put in, and the capital put on 
and screwed down to the cucurbit, by means of the thumb screws 
E, E. The condenser uninjlated is then screwed on to the tips of 
the beak, the joint luted, and the condenser placed in a bucket of 
cold water. ‘The joint between the head and the body of the alem- 
bie is also coated with a luting of horse dung and pipe clay or ful- 
ler’s earth. 
As soon as the amalgam begins to boil, the condenser becomes 
inflated with the air, which was in the alembic, and when evapora- 
tion ceases, the cold air from the condenser now returns into the 
alembic, and becoming heated, expands and fills the space formerly 
occupied by itself and the quicksilver. If while the operation is 
