NEW  APPARATUS  FOR  RECTIFYING  SPIRITS. 
3 
outside,  sixty-four  feet  in  length  ;  with  a  discharging  cock;  a  tell- 
tale cock  for  regulating  the  charge ;  a  charging  screw ;  an  air 
cock ;  a  long  thermometer ;  and  a  coupling  for  the  weak  spirit 
return-pipe. 
The  column,  also  of  well  tinned  copper,  is  fifteen  inches  diame- 
ter by  ten  feet  high,  (ten  feet  eight  inches  including  cap  or 
cover.)  For  convenience  of  management  this  is  divided  into 
three  parts,  held  together  by  composition  Handles  and  bolts  and 
nuts.  The  lower  division  is  four  feet  high,  and  the  others  each 
three  feet.  The  whole  column  is  separated  into  fifteen  compart- 
ments, the  lower  one  twelve  inches  and  each  of  the  others  eight 
inches  deep.  The  lower  compartment  has  the  "  plunger"  ar- 
rangement commonly  used  in  columns  for  rectification  ;  that  is,  a 
tinned  copper  tube  four  inches  wide  and  eight  inches  high, 
soldered  over  an  opening  in  a  fixed  diaphragm,  through  which 
the  vapors  have  to  pass  from  the  still.  Over  this  tube  is  held 
an  inverted  cup  six  inches  wide  by  eight  inches  high,  in  the  posi- 
tion shown  in  the  sketch.  The  side  of  this  plunger  chamber  has 
three  perforations  with  corresponding  stop  cocks.  The  lower 
cock  is  for  emptying  the  chamber  completely,  and  is  only  used 
at  the  end  of  a  working,  or  when  the  column  has  to  be  taken 
down.  The  middle  one  is  for  communication  with  the  still,  and 
serves  to  regulate  the  level  of  the  weak  spirit  in  the  chamber 
during  the  ordinary  working.  It  is  always  open,  except  for  a 
short  time  previous  to,  and  during  the  discharge  of  the  exhausted 
or  spent  liquors  of  the  still.  The  upper  cock  admits  the  weak 
spirit  return  from  the  goose  and  purifiers  into  this  chamber,  and 
is  kept  open  during  the  greater  part  of  the  "  running." 
Above  the  plunger  chamber  is  a  moveable  tinned  copper 
diaphragm,  supported  by  a  narrow  rim  or  ledge  soldered  around 
the  inside  of  the  column.  This  diaphragm  (represented  both  in 
plane  view  and  section  by  fig.  2)  is  turned  up  round  the  edge 
so  as  to  form  a  cup  |  inch  deep.  Just  within  the  edge  it  is  per- 
forated all  round  with  a  ring  of  \  inch  holes,  punched  from  below 
upward,  so  as  to  leave  a  burr  or  rim  round  each  hole  about  \  inch 
high.  At  a  distance  from  the  edge,  double  that  to  the  centres 
of  the  holes,  say  one  and  a  half  inches  from  the  edge,  is  soldered 
a  cylinder  of  tinned  copper  wire  cloth,  of  eight  meshes  to  the 
inch.    This  wire  cloth  cylinder,  previously  made  by  soldering,  is 
