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.

340

J I T N E <,OODFIEI D AN1) STEPHEh TOL'I MIN

.\ colrlplete qatt6r~iused as an extraction pot. T h e lelt-hand be.tk lendi to the collecting jar; the light-hand beak chains off the cooling Irate1 trom the head. (One-foot I ule for cornpal ison.)

111 tlie specimen here illustrated, tlie copper of the head is some~vhat lighter in color than the metal of the other two parts. Indeed, they rnay \.el-y possibly represent parts of two different original qat!&rus. .Judging from the style of ornamentation - the external fluting and the design of the vent at the top - the metal~vorkerwho sold it to us consiclered tllat the head came from 'T'aroudant in southern Morocco. I n the local Fez design, the head is simpler and approximates a hemispherical dome. Stills of this basic form are being made and used in Fez to tllis day. T h e older style ones are beaten out of copper; others in a simplified cylindrical design from cheap tinplate. T h e older style ones are rarer and more expensive. (Our o ~ v none was comparatively clleap at Q.) Tile main center of rnanu6acture is the Seffarine Square, immediately adjoining the old I h i rouine Library and Mosque. ,4ccording to our colleagues in Fez, the subterranean alchemical laboratory .cvhich Dr. E. J . Holmyarcl ' reported having .?

Hollnyal.d, E. J . A l r l ~ v i n y(Har~nontis~\.ortli:I'enguitl Bonks, 1937) , p. 101.

T h e base of the qnttcircr.

T h e miclclle sieve

T h e heat1 of the still from below, the inside view showing the dome ancl rim. T h e left-hand beak enters the rim at the poi~ltwhich can be seen in the picture, but in the photograph it is ob5cured by the rim itself.

T h e head of the still from above sho~ving the aperture through which cold water is pouretl. T h e right-hand beak chains this water ofl, and the two beaks are separatecl b j the clome of the still.

542

J U N E GOODFIELD AND STEPHEN T O U L M I N

visited was only a stone's throw away trorn this square. By this time, we were informed, the house and laboratory are conlpletely deserted and the Inan in question is dead. It is nevertheless a curious fact that Holmyard never nlentions having seen specinlens of the qaltkra. A Moroccan alchemist might have been expected to possess one: so tar as we were able to determine, it is the only traditional piece ot distilling apparatus in coininon use in the country. Certainly during the seven weeks .itre spent at F ~ we L found no evidence of any other type of still.

R O B E R T GROSSETESTE *4S AN OBSERVER By E . G. R. Taylor

*

I n his article on Grosseteste's scien- warmer than the water of a swift runtific works (Iszs, 1961, 52: 381-1102) , ning river, so that the temperature Kichard C. Dales, discussing the section changes with the tides. Grosseteste, of 1)e accesszone et recesszone ntarzs, quotes course, knew only the facts, and not the Grosseteste as saying " ships in the sea explanations. are more elevated in the time of rise Roger Bacon also exemplifies the conthan of fall " and experience also tells tention that medieval scholars had u< that in the time of rise, the water is more practical knowledge than comtound to be hotter than in time of fall." mentators usually realize. I n Chapter These are said to be examples of " fla- V of Part I11 of the O p ~ i isllalz~s,when grantly inaccurate observation " and ctiscussing the tides, he indicates clearly Grosseteste is stigmatized as evidently that he is aware of the establishment not a great observer." But the opposite ol the port," which was three hours is the case. Both statements were comin the ports of the Atlantic margin of mon knowledge in the estuarine ports Europe as far north as South Britanny, of Britain, particularly in the port of London. Salt water comes flooding in ' High tide NE-SMT " as the sailors at high tide, and owing to its greater woulcl say, using the rhumbs as a clock Low tide SE-NTZ'." Bacon, of density the ship's displacement is re- lace: duced. But at low water the fresh river coulse, cannot explain this correctly, water has replaced it, and the ship but quotes Axlerroes on the similarity rides lower." hloreover, every swim- be tween opposite quarters of the mer knows that sea-water is normally celestial sphere. "

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