CHAP. III. Of vessels fit for Distillation.
VEssels for Distillation consist of different matter and form; for they are either of Lead Tin, or Brass; or else earthen vessels; and these are sometimes leaded, sometimes not: or else they are of Gold, Silver, or Glass. Now for leaden vessels they are worse then the rest,* 1.1 and utterly to be refu••ed, especially when as the liquors which are drawn by them are to be taken into the body by the mouth, by reason of the malignant qualities which are said to be in Lead, by which occasion Galen condemns those waters which run, and are contained in leaden pipes, which by reason of their s••ltishness and acrimony which savors of quicksilver, cause dysen∣teries. Therefore you may perceive such waters as are di••tilled through a leaden head to be in∣dued with a more acrid and violent-piercing vapor, by reason the portion of that saltness di∣solved in them, and as it were shaven from the Alembick, or head, defiles the distilled liquors, and whitens and turns them into a milky substance: but copper or brass heads are more hurtful then Lead,* 1.2 so they make the waters that come through them to savor or participate of brass. Those that are of Gold and silver are less hurtful; but the greatness of the cost hinders us from making heads of such metals;* 1.3 therefore we must have a care that our vessels for distillation be either of potters-metal leaded or else of b••ass, or of that jug metal which is commonly called terra Betovacensis, and these rather then of lead or any other metal. Verily glasses are thought the best; and next to them earthen vessels leaded, then of jug-metal, and lastly these of tin. There is great variety of vessels for distillation in form and figure; for some are of an oval or cylindrical figure, that is, of a round and longish; others are twined and crooked, others of other shapes, as you may see in the beaks of the Chymists. Of this almost infinite variety of figures I will in fit place give you the delineation an•• use of such as shall seem to be most necessary.