Antique Print, Copper Engraving, Chemistry, Pharmaceutical, Alembics, Distillation, Alexander Hogg, 1788

"System of Chemistry Tab. I"

Features contemporary equipment for distilling liquids: Alembics of Copper, Alembics of Glass, "For distilling salt & Spirit of Hartshorn", an example of a "Distillation Olbique", an apparatus for distilling Sea Water, another "For Subliming Volatile Sal Ammoniac".

Antique Copper engraving by "Rennolds" printed on handmade "Laid Paper" made from flax and hemp fibre, free of acidic "lignin" contained in wood pulp.

Published "According to an Act of Parliament" by Alexander Hogg, at the Kings Arms No 16 Paternoster Row, London circa 1788

Condition= Very good.  Upper left edge plate-mark incomplete due to cropping soon after printing. Plate-mark present is strong.  Age in evident around edge of paper, but no foxing mold is present, and no blemishes on the engraved image

Plate mark = 23.5 x 38 cm / 9.4 x 15.2 inch

Alembic Distilleries:

An "Alembic" is an Al-chemical Still, consisting of two vessels connected by a tube, used in the distillation of liquids. The complete distilling apparatus consists of three parts: the "cucurbit", the still pot containing the liquid to be distilled (which is heated by a flame), the "cap" or "head" that fits over the mouth of the cucurbit to receive the vapors, with an attached downward-sloping "tube", and the "receiver" container. In the case of another distilling vessel, the "cap" and the "cucurbit" have been combined to form a single vessel. The liquid in the cucurbit is heated or boiled, the vapor rises into the anbik, where it cools by contact with the walls and condenses, running down the spout into the receiver.

Hartsthorn Uses:

Salt of hartshorn refers to ammonium carbonate, an early form of smelling salts obtained by dry distillation of oil of hartshorn. The Spirit of hartshorn was originally applied to a solution manufactured from the hooves and antlers of the red deer, as well as those of some other animals. The aqueous solution was colorless and pungent, consisting of about 28.5 percent ammonia. It was used chiefly as a detergent, for removing stains and extracting certain vegetable coloring agents. Hartshorn salt (ammonium carbonate), was known as baker's ammonia, used as a "raising agent" in the baking of cakes and cookies. It was used mainly in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as a forerunner of baking powder. A half-teaspoon of hartshorn can substitute for one teaspoon of baking powder.

Sal Ammoniac

This rare naturally occurring mineral composed of ammonium chloride. It naturally forms as encrustations due to sublimation on the inside of volcanic vents. Its uses were varied, from cleaning soldering irons used in the making of stain glass windows and refining precious metals in the jewellery trade, to uses in baked products, from giving cookies a crisp texture to being used as baking soda. It was also used in dying fabrics and leather tanning processes.

Scientific and Technological Knowledge in 1788 vs Britain's First Fleet Convicts arrival in Port Jackson