

78 Report of Schimmel § Co. April /October 1917. 



colour, being so much contaminated by tarry decomposition-products, that the collection 

 of pine oil 1 ) is interrupted. 



An improvement of this process ought to be feasible by carefully keeping to a 

 lower temperature for some time. With this object in view a new furnace construction 

 was introduced, the so-called "Russian furnace". This type was probably first built in 

 the Bialovitsh district about 20 years ago and then transplanted into other regions. It 

 only has one furnace which distributes its gases right and left into conduits which are 

 also placed horizontally. The latter then rise at the opposite side of the furnace and 

 are conducted backwards and forwards 3 times, so that 4 ring-shaped conduits lie in 

 the lower, more stoutly built portion of the furnace. These constructions were of the 

 same size as with the "Polish furnace". It was only at a later period that much larger 

 ones were built, up to a diameter and height of 5.60 m., and at the same time the 

 firing was altered in such a manner that now only one horizontal channel existed, and 

 that the gases were conducted up and down in a zigzagging fashion on both sides 

 back to the chimney which is placed close to the fire-place. The dome, of the thick- 

 ness of one brick, has an aperture at the top which is covered by a copper head 

 into which two copper elbows of about 20 cm. diameter are inserted. These elbows 

 terminate in tubes, each of 4 m. length (formerly of copper, now made of wood) and 

 finally in a coil condenser with 4 spirals. The cooling operation is performed in a 

 tank filled with water, and the condensation-products run out of the mouth of the 

 cooling coil into a cask let into the earth, in which the oil and water are separated 

 and even the tar which has been carried over is precipitated on the bottom. The con- 

 densed water is carried off by means of an overflow pipe and the oil, floating on the 

 surface, poured off into glass bottles. As the end of the wooden conduit is another 

 outlet, out of which the tar which has been condensed here runs off. The lower, 

 stouter portion of the furnace is partly built into the earth, with a view to better iso- 

 lation, and earth is likewise accumulated round it up to the point where the dome begins. 



In this method of working the production of pine oil is absolutely separated from 

 that of tar and charcoal. 



The "Polish furnace" serves the purpose of obtaining tar and charcoal of sterling 

 value and the best possible yield, whereas the "Russian system" produces the most 

 pure "oil of turpentine", in as large quantities as possible. This notion is absolutely 

 confirmed by the fact that the plants in the Bialovitsh district, in whose establishments 

 frequently both furnace systems are represented, only run their "Polish furnaces" when 

 tar and charcoal are much in demand; however, they start their "Russian" ones when 

 pine oil is called for which is generally the case. For this reason the more modern 

 works are only fitted up with "Russian furnaces". 



The works in the Minsk Government are said to have been erected according to 

 more modern methods. The dome of the furnaces consists of sheet iron the lower 

 part of which is immured into the wall of the lower furnace jacket. The distillation 

 of the pine oil in these furnaces is said to take much less time which is explained 

 by the fact that, owing to the dome getting hot quicker, the mixture of the pine oil 



*) In this paper as well as in most other publications on turpentine products, the terms "Turpentine" 

 and "Oil of Turpentine" are mixed up and misapplied. If this is the case in ordinary intercourse, and for in- 

 stance a druggist sells "oil of turpentine", when "turpentine" is demanded, these terms ought certainly not to 

 be confounded in scientific papers and the terms "Turpentine" (i. e. the original gum resin), and "oil of turpen- 

 tine" (i. e. the oil produced from turpentine by distillation with steam), ought to be clearly divided. The same 

 objectionable practice is paramount in English and especially in American publications. In the latter case even 

 the terms "Rosin" (colophony), and "Resin" (turpentine) are confounded. In the paper we are discussing here, 

 oil of turpentine is mixed up with pine oil. 



