226 DISTILLATION OP SANDALWOOD OIL. 



CHAPTER III.— DISTILLATION OF SANDAL- 

 WOOD OIL. 



The distillation is effected by the wet process in temporary sheds 

 erected in or near the forest. The still used is the ordinary Indian 

 one consisting of three pots, viz., two large ones, doing duty 

 respectively as boiler and condenser, and a third, a small copper 

 one, which is inverted into the mouth of the boiler and is practically 

 the cap of the still. It is fitted with a copper or bamboo tube about 

 4 feet long and having a bore of about 1 inch, which carries down 

 the vapour into the condenser. The boiler, which may be of metal 

 or ordinary earthenware, holds about 56 lbs. of sandalwood chips 

 with about 6 gallons of water. The sides of the boiler and cap are 

 carefully luted together to prevent the escape of steam. On one 

 side of the boiler is a small opening which can be stopped and 

 through which fresh water can be added as the water inside is 

 evaporated. The condenser is made of copper and has a capacity 

 of about 3 gallons. Its mouth is stopped with leaves and coarse 

 grass, and it is suspended on a forked piece of wood by its con- 

 tracted neck inside a wide earthenware trough filled with cold 

 water, which is constantly renewed. Several such stills, usually 

 twelve, are fixed in a row over a common furnace made of mud or 

 •unburnt bricks. The furnace is actually fed from the back under 

 each boiler, but it would be better to stoke it at one end, the op- 

 posite end serving as a chimney to draw a constant draught through. 



The wood is shred into fine chips with a small sharp adze. As 

 the condenser gradually fills with water and oil, the latter is skim- 

 med off (twice or thrice in the 24 hours) and emptied into a 

 cistern or narrow tank kept in a corner of the shed. Only a 

 small quantity of oil is obtained at each skimming. The fires burn 

 night and day, and a single charge of wood takes about 2 1 days to 

 part with all its oil. The working season lasts 10 months,, during 

 which, however, owing to constant holidays and slackness on the 

 part of the men, the boilers are charged only about nine times. 



The wood of the root contains the largest quantity of oil, and is 

 said to yield, according to its quality, from 1^ to 4 per cent, of 

 its weight of oil, although European distillers have never been able 

 to get more than 2 per cent. The sapwood is too poor in oil to be 

 of any use. 



