HERB - Early distillation

Roos cc Rooscc at aol.com
Sun May 24 08:04:12 PDT 1998


Not all early distillation was "distillation" as we
use the term. It meant "drop by drop." We have
had fun with Avicenna's method of distilling 
recommended for travelers (p. 454 of Gruner):

"The best measure is to distil the water. This may be 
done by making a wick out of twisted wool, one end of 
which is placed in the full vessel and the other into an 
empty vessel. Water will then escape from the one to 
the other drop by drop. This is a good way of clarifying 
water when it is necessary to do so."

You can also use a strip of cloth for this. Moisten
the wick so that it is saturated to a point just
beyond the rim of the full vessel. This moisture will
drip down the wick into the empty vessel and more
moisture will then be drawn up the wick. 

As a filtering system, it can clarify the liquid from
herbal debris although not nearly so effectively as a
coffee filter. Use it as an air freshener for dispersing
fragrance.
Alysoun de Ros
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