THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 104

gradually becomes sweeter and sweeter, until at
last it becomes drinkable again; because,
eventually, all the organic matter which it con-
tained becomes decomposed, carbonic acid and
water being the result, and although the air of
the ship's hold is none of the sweetest, the
water, produced as just said remains for ever
afterwards perfectly good and palatable, because
it is saturated with pure air, and therefore
cannot absorb that of the atmosphere.

Now, Dr. Stenhouse, several years ago, I
believe, found that the power which charcoal
possesses of purifying tainted air is owing to its
burning in an insensible manner the substances
to which its bad odour was due; and acting
upon that discovery of Dr. Stenhouse, I found
that charcoal has the power of destroying the
empyreuma of distilled water, when such water
is aërated, that is to say, when it contains at-
mospheric air, or oxygen. I found by experi-
ments, carried on upon a somewhat extensive
scale for many months, that two cubic feet of
charcoal are sufficient to remove entirely the
empyreumatic odour and taste of distilled water
produced at the rate of 500 gallons per diem,
and that the charcoal never wants renewing,
because it does not act as a filter, but as a
burner, the substance burnt being the empy-
reumatic product, and the result of the slow
combustion thereof being carbonic acid and
water. I have every reason to believe, from
the length of time during which several of my
apparatus have been in operation, that such a
filter once made will last for ever, because the
charcoal disinfects the water, so to speak, as it
does air, not by mechanical separation, but by
actual though insensible combustion. The few
water, as it issues from the apparatus, is per-
fectly sweet, tasteless, inodorous, and complete-
ly saturated with a maximum quantity of pure
air; it is of sparkling clearness, and being re-
frigerated in traversing the coiled pipe sur-
rounded by the cold sea water at the lower part
of the apparatus, it is fit for immediate use."

And thus is the second condition, that of
aëration, of digestibility, of wholesomeness,
accomplished, whereby the water so produced
is at once drinkable, and so sweet and fresh
that it cannot be distinguished from the very
best spring water.

I have already stated that sea water contains
a certain quantity of salt in the proportion of
about 1lb. of salt to 33lbs. of water. Now,
when sea water is evaporated, all the steam
produced therefrom being, of course, fresh
water, all the salt which that water contained
is left behind; that is to say, the salt previously
contained in the evaporated portion if left in
that portion which is not yet evaported, and
which is, thereof, more impregnated with salt
than before. If this salt be not removed, and
and the evaporation is continued, it goes on
accumulating, furring, and incrusting the ves-

sel, and very soon destroys it. This is, in fact,
an inconvenience common, not only to all the
sea water stills hitherto contrived, but to the
boilers of marine engines; for no boiler or ves-
sel is safe from incrustation as soon as about
half of the sea water admitted in them has been
evaporated; that is, when the sea water has
been saturated by concentration so as to contain
1 lb of salt in about 16 lbs. of water.

My apparatus is not liable to these incrusta-
tions or deposits of salt, because the sea water cir-
culates in it in a constant and uninterrupted
manner, and the quantity evaporated (one sixth)
is much less than is necessary to interfere with
the perfect solution of the whole of the salt,
since the discharged water contains only about
one-half per cent. more salt after than before
being operated upon; that is to say, the sea
water, as it is admitted into the apparatus, con-
tains, as we said, about 16 oz. of salt in 33 lbs.
of water; when it is discharged it contains only
about 17 oz. of salt in 33 lbs. of water, which is
an insignificant increase. On the other hand,
the different parts of the apparatus being made
of stout iron plates, riveted, and connected in a
substantial manner by screws and bolts, without
soldering or brazing of any kind or in any part,
it is perfectly impossible that it should go out
of order by any kind of accident short of those
cases of force majeure which, unfortunately,
are too often the cause of the ruin or wreck of
the ship itself.

From this brief description of my Patent
Marine Fresh Water Apparatus, it may he
conceived that, by heating the sea water at
only 212° Fahr. by means of steam at only a
few pounds above atmospheric pressure, it is
volatilised in a most economical manner, and
is perfectly free from the saline or organic
matters which usually impart to it, in other
arrangements, a nauseous odour and disagree-
able taste; and that the cheapness and small
volume of the apparatus, the large quantity of
fresh, salubrious, and aerated water which it
produces * at an extremely small cost, its
absolute safety, permanent order, and the ease
with which all its parts can be reached, not only
render it pre-eminently suited to marine pur-
poses, but that it is likewise admirably adapted
to such stations or places as are deficient in one
of the first necessities of life salubrious fresh
water, or where it either cannot be obtained at
all, or only in an insufficient, precarious, or
expensive manner.

• An apparatus 5 feet high, 3 feet long, and 1½ feet
  wide, produces 24 gallons of fresh water per hour.

Treasury,
Auckland, 23rd July, 1858.

THE following Returns are published for
general information.

C. W. RICHMOND.