THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY. 
MAY,  1879. 
AN  IMPROVED  DISTILLATORY  APPARATUS. 
By  Joseph  P.  Remington. 
Read  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting,  April  1  5//;. 
\  Since  the  distillatory  apparatus  described  and  figured  in  the  January, 
1878,  number  of  this  journal  came  into  use,  the  writer  has  been  some- 
what occupied  in  devising  improvements  aiming  to  increase  its  effi- 
ciency. 
Soon  after  it  appeared  and  was  introduced  through  a  manufacturer, 
who  took  some  pains  to  advertise  the  still  and  make  them  with  some 
variation  in  size  and  styles,  it  became  evident  that  a  smaller  apparatus, 
embodying  the  principles  of  the  old  form,  would  better  serve  the  wants 
of  most  pharmacists  who  use  distillation  in  many  of  their  formulas.  An 
effort  was  also  made  to  reduce  the  cost  of  the  still  to  the  lowest  possi- 
ble sum  without  injuring  its  usefulness  or  durability. 
The  body  of  the  still  is  of  planished  copper,  holds  about  three  and 
a-half  gallons,  is  cylindrical  in  shape  and  has  a  double-thick  copper  bot- 
tom ;  a  glass  gauge-tube  is  arranged  on  the  side  to  show  the  height  of 
the  liquid,  or  at  least  to  indicate  when  the  liquid  is  at  a  dangerously 
low  point.  The  method  of  joining  the  dome  with  body  is  the  same  as 
that  heretofore  employed,  i.  by  tightly  clamping  the  two  brass  rings 
together,  a  piece  of  wet  twine  having  been  placed  between  them. 
The  dome  has  been  entirely  altered,  and  instead  of  the  opening  to 
permit  the  escape  of  the  vapor  being  in  the  middle  it  is  at  one  side 
and  shaped  so  as  to  afford  as  little  condensing  surface  as  possible,  and 
is  connected  with  the  condenser  by  a  ground  joint,  slightly  tapered, 
which  admits  of  the  ready  union  with  it,  and  by  slightly  twisting  when 
the  condenser  is  inserted,  all  danger  of  its  coming  apart  is  removed 
and  the  necessity  of  using  any  kind  of  lute  is  thus  avoided.  The  con- 
denser does  not  differ  in  principle  from  the  one  connected  with  the  old 
apparatus,  but  its  construction  has  been  simplified  and  the  proportions 
'5 
