nches or thereabout higher than the
level of the bend at C, otherwise there may not be sufficient head to
force a free current of water against the pressure of steam. It will
also be found that the still should only contain water to the extent
of about one-fourth of its capacity when distillation is commenced, as
the water in the condenser becomes heated much more rapidly than the
same volume is vaporized. By this expedient a still of two gallons
capacity will yield about half a dozen gallons per day, a much greater
quantity than could ever be obtained under the old system, which
required the still to be recharged with cold water every time one and
a half gallons had been taken off.

The objection to all such continuous or automatic arrangements is, of
course, that the condensed water contains all the free ammonia that
may have existed in the water originally, but it is only in cases
where the water is exceptionally impure that this disadvantage will
become really serious. The method here outlined has, no doubt,
occurred to many, and may probably be in regular use, but not having
seen any previous mention of the idea, I have thought that it might be
useful to some pharmacists who prepare their own distilled
water.--_Phar. Jour._

* * * * *

COTTON SEED OIL.

"Cotton seed oil," said Mr. A.E. Thornton, of the Atlanta mills, "is
one of the most valuable of oils because it is a neutral oil, that is,
neither acid nor alkali, and can be made to form the body of any other
oil. It assimilates the properties of the oil with which it is mixed.
For instance, olive oil. Cotton seed oil is taken and a little extract
of olives put in. The cotton oil takes up the properties of the
extract, and for all practical purposes it is every bit as good as the
pure olive oil. Then it is used in sweet oil, hair oil, and, in fact,
in nearly all others. A chemist cannot tell the prepared cotton oil
from olive oil except by exposing a saucerful of each, and the olive
oil becomes rancid much quicker than the cotton oil. The crude oil is
worth thirty cents a gallon, and even as it is makes the finest of
cooking lard, and enters into the composition of nearly all lard."

A visit to the mills showed how the oil is made. From the platform
where the seed is unloaded it is thrown into an elevator and carried
by a conveyor--an endless screw in a trough--to the warehouse. Then it
is distributed by the conveyor un