STONES.

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f, a tube conducting the vapors of alcohol from the alembic, b, into the circles of therectifier; g, a tube bringing back into the alembic, B, the vapors condensed in the cir-cles of the rectifier; ft, a tube conducting the vapors not condensed into the worm ofthe condenser; i, a tube serving for the expulsion of the air when the wine comes intothe vessel, c; it communicates with the tube, ft, so as not to lose alcohol, j, is a pro-longation of the tube D, communicating with the tube A, so that it may be in contactwith the external air; l, a stop-cock through which the alcohol condensed runs oil'intothe serpentine; m, levels, indicating the height of the liquor in the alembics, A and b;m, tube with a stop-cock, for feeding the alembic a; o, discharge stop-cock of the spentvinasse (wash).

A description of the operation of the first still will render that of the second intelli-gible.

The alembic A, being filled three fourths with vinasse, and n having only 4 or 5 inchesof vinasse over its bottom, the liquor in A is made to boil, and the stop-cock, r, beingat the same time opened, some of the wine to be distilled is allowed to fall into the fun-nel, n; this cold liquor runs to the bottom of the cooler, r, fills it, passes into the wine-lieater by the tube l, spreads into a perforated conduit along the top of E, thence trickles*down into this vessel till it fills it to the level of the tube ft, by which it is conductedinto the column, c, and, flowing down through all its compartments, it falls at last intothe second alembic, B.

During this progress, the liquor of. A having begun to boil, the alcoholic vapor passes,by means of the tube e, e, into the second alembic, n, which, being heated by those va-pors, and by the products of combustion issuing from the fireplace under the first alem-bic, is also soon made to boil. The vapor which it produces is disengaged into the col-umn of distillation c, meets there the wine which trickles through all its compartments,transfers to it a portion of its heat, and deprives it of alcohol, goes into the column n,where it is alcoholized afresh, then enters into the worm within the wine-lieater e,glides through all its windings, gets stripped in part of the aqueous vapors which ac-companied the alcohol, and which return first by the tube p, p, then by l, l, into thecolumn of rectification; afterward the spirituous vapor passes into the worm enclosedin the cooler r, to issue finally condensed and deprived of all the water wished to betaken from it, by the tube x, into the gauge receiver.

When the indicator /, of the alembic b, shows it to be nearly full, the stqp-cock a ofthe alembic A is opened, and the vinasse is allowed to run out entirely exhausted of .spirit; but as soon as there are only seven inches of liquor above the discharge pipethe cock a is shut, and d is opened to run off seven inches of liquor from B.

It appears, therefore, that in reference to the discharge, the operation is not quitecontinuous; but this slight interruption is a real improvement introduced by M. Derosneinto the working of M. Blumenthal’s apparatus. It is impossible for any distiller, how-ever expert, to exhaust entirely the liquor of the last alembic, if the discharge be notstopped for a short time. The above distilling apparatus requires from two to threehours to put it in full action. From 10 to 15 per cent, of spirit of | are obtained fromthe average of French wine! and 600 litres of such spirit are ruii off with 150 kilo-grammes of coals; or about two old English quarts of spirit for each pound of coals.

’ STONES, for building, and bricks, may be proved as to their power of resisting theaction of frost, .by the following method, first practised by M. Brard, and afterward byMM. Vicat, Billaudel, and Conrad, engineers of the bridges and highways in France .The operation of water in congealing within the pores of a stone may be imitated bythe action of a salt, which can increase in bulk by a cause easily produced; such asefflorescence or crystallization, for example. Sulphate of soda or Glauber’s salt an-swers th e purpose perfectly, and it should be applied as follows:

Average samples of the stones in their sound state, free from shakes, should be sawedinto pieces 2 or 3 inches cube, and numbered with China ink or a graving tool. Alarge quantity of Glauber’s salt should be dissolved. in hot water, and the solutionshould be left to cool. The clear saturated solution being heated to the boiling point ina saucepan, the several pieces of stone are to be suspended by a thread in the liquid forexactly one half-hour. They are then removed and hung up each by itself over a ves-sel containing some of the above cold saturated solution. In the course of 24 hours, ifthe air be not very damp or cold, a white efflorescence will appear upon the stones.Each piece must be then immersed in the liquor in the subjacent vessel, so as to causethe crystals to disappear, be once more hung up, and dipped again whenever, the dryefflorescence forms. The temperature of the apartment should be kept as uniform aspossible during the progress of the trials. According to their tendency to exfoliate byfrost, the several stones will show, even in the course of the first day, alterations on theedges and angles of the cubes; and in 5 days after effloresence begins, the result willbe manifest, and may be estimated by the weight of disintegrated fragments, comparedto the known weight of the piece in its original state, both taken equally dry.