LABIATE^223
It is Marx's opinion that the substitution of an improved method for
that now followed would benefit both the quantity and quality of the
oil produced. The apparatus universally adopted in Japan consists of
cast-iron broad-edged boilers, A, I, H ; wooden vats, B; and condenser,
C. Generally there are three sets of stills, etc., combined in one battery
with a common furnace. They are arranged in steps, so that the lowest
is built into the ground.
The process is begun by filling the boilers, A, I, H, with water; then
the vats, B, which have perforated bottoms, are placed on the broad
FIG. 26.—Peppermint stills (section).FIG. 27.—Peppermint stills (ground plan).FIG. 28.—Bamboo syphon.
edges and surrounded with straw bands and soft clay. It is in these
vats that the peppermint is placed. Next, the inverted condenser, C, is
put on and filled with water and the furnace, E, lighted. The heat
passes from E below A, I, and H, and disappears through the chimney,
N, on which the distilling begins. The boilers I and H, are properly
heated by the fumes as they pass, and sufficiently so, as H is smaller
than I, and I smaller than A. The steam, penetrating the herb, carries
with it the essential oil, and condenses on the outer side of C, being
collected in the vessel, ^K, hanging upon it, from which the condensed