sea-going ships for
many years. It is supposed by some authorities on this subject that the
first time fresh water was thus obtained at sea was by an old captain of
a brig which ran short of water, and he cut up some pewter dishes into
strips, which he bent and soldered into a pipe. He, with the carpenter's
aid, fitted a wooden lid in one of the cooking boilers, and fixed one end
of his pipe in it. He next sawed a water cask in half, bored a hole in
the bottom of one half, and took his pipe through it, filling the space
round the pipe with sea water. Thus he extemporized a worm and still or
condenser. The distilled water, however, was scarcely drinkable. Not to
be beaten, however, the captain got some pieces of charred wood which he
put in the water, which so far improved it as to render it at all events
fit to sustain life, and our skipper brought his brig and her screw
safely to port. What suggested the use of charcoal to his mind history
does not tell. For many years past scarce any sea-going vessel leaves
port that is not fitted with a properly constructed distiller; and one
conspicuous advantage attending this practice is that each ship thus
fitted to the satisfaction of the Board of Trade inspector is allowed to
sail with only half the quantity of fresh water on board which she should
have if not provided with a distiller. The distiller and filter occupy
very much less space than that which would be occupied by the casks or
tanks of water otherwise required to be carried.

Coming now a little to detail, sea water distillers are usually fitted in
connection with the winch and its boiler, which latter supplies the steam
both for distillation and to drive the engine working its circulating
pump. Smaller distillers are worked without a pump, the cooling water
merely passing through by gravitation. These smaller affairs again are of
two kinds, the one being mounted at one end of the cooking hearth, as in
outline sketch, which shows a two oven hearth with distiller at one end.
A is the supply pipe to admit air to aerate the water; B is the cock
where fresh water is drawn off; C is a pipe conveying cooling water to
the condenser E, placed on three little feet on top of the boiler, F,
whose steam rises up a central pipe to the dome top, where it expands out
and returns downward through a number of tubes about 1 in. diameter, in
which it is condensed, collected in a bottom chamber, and drawn off
through the cock, B. A disti