The Qattara

The Qattara: A Primitive Distillation and Extraction Apparatus Still in Use June Goodfield; Stephen Toulmin Isis, Vol. 55, No. 3. (Sep., 1964), pp. 339-342. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-1753%28196409%2955%3A3%3C339%3ATQAPDA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-E Isis is currently published by The University of Chicago Press.

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NOTES 6 CORRESPONDENCE

T H E QATTARA: A PRIMITIVE DISTILLATION AND

EXTRACTION APPARATUS STILL IN USE

By June Goodfield a n d Stephen Toulmin *

Tlie general course of the evolution of the still has by now been well established. Though the detailed stages in the development of the still head and the still body are a matter of conjecture, nevertheless we can reconstruct these in main outline from manuscript figures and excavations.' One of the well-known early stages in the evolution of the still head was the introduction of " beaks " which led off the distillate, trapped in a rim within the head, into collecting jars. It is not generally realized, however, that stills and extraction pots representing this primitive phase in the techniques of distillation are in current use today - as they were in the time of Abu Qasim - for the preparation of rosewater. In February, 1963, we were in Fez, Morocco, collecting material for films on Arabic and medieval science, and on alchemy. During our researches we inspected four stills of this ancient type, as well as a number of more modern tinplate ones, manufactured to a similar design. We were able to bring one of the older copper stills back with us to England, and it can be seen at our premises in London. T h e apparatus consists of three parts (see photographs). When it is used for simple distillation, the middle sieve is omitted, but when used for extracting rosewater (still a staple item in the Moroccan cuisine) the sieve is a standard part of the apparatus. T h e rose petals are placed on it, and steam from the boiling water in the lower section is passed through them. T h e most interesting part of the still is the head. T h e essence condenses on the dome, runs down into the rim and is led off through the beak into a collecting vessel. T h e upper section of the head is a simple cooling device, being filled from above with cold water which is periodically drained off through the other beak and replenished. T h e apparatus is not very efficient: a substantial proportion of the vapor escapes through the beak as steam, and some of the distillate falls back into the main part of the vessel. When used for the preparation of rosewater, the apparatus is heated on a simple plaster-covered furnace, commonly made out of an old metal bucket and containing a small fire of charcoal. * T h e Nuffield Foundation, Unit for the History of Ideas. I Levey, Martin. " The Earliest Stages in

the Evolution of the Still." Isis, 1960, 51: 31-34.

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J I T N E