t 53+ ] 
The v j pours which arife in the deflagration of 
nitre, with charcoal, antimony, &c. commonly 
c ailed Ov'flus, are very bard to condenfe; hut, by 
making them pafs through water, tneir condenia- 
tion is thoroughly efteded. See lag. 6. 
In the reification ot Phofphorus, if water is 
made ufe of to condenfe the vapours, it will be- 
come as white as virgin wax, and almoft as pliable; 
which fee ms to be owing to the water, whicn pre- 
vents its burning. 
In the diftillation and redification of the Vitriolic 
if' the r, it is of advantage to make ufe of fpirit of 
wine to condenfe the vapours, which otherWife 
might have been diffipated. 
Befides thefe, a great many other things, too te- 
dious to mention, may be condented in water, or 
fpirit of wine, to a very great advantage. 
I cannot conclude, without mentioning that 
this new method of diftillation bids fair to difcovei 
the mercurial and colouring eartns ot Beecher ; for 
by this method we can condenfe the moil volatile 
parts of all fubftances, far better than by any other 
means. . 
And I muft acknowledge that I received the nrit 
hint of it from the common apparatus for reviving 
mercury from cinnabar. 
I am, fir. 
Your mod obedient fervant, 
Cleikenwell, 
Nov. 18, 1767. Peter Woulfe. 
To John Ellis, Efq; 
in Gray’s Inn. 
Ex pi a- 
