Alembics, 16th Century
Ambroise Par̩ (1510 - December 20, 1590) was a French surgeon, anatomist and inventor. He was royal surgeon for kings Henry II, Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III and is considered one of the fathers of surgery and modern forensic pathology. The 1585 edition of Par̩'s Oeuvres (Collected Works) represents the final summary of his life's work. It has over twelve hundred folio pages, with nearly four hundred illustrations drawing upon a lifetime of practice. Par̩ includes a very practical treatise on the preparation of various medicines. He is impressed with the healing powers of such aromatic spices as cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, and he devotes a chapter on how to distill the essence of spices and herbs to concentrate their power. These are alembics, the forerunner of laboratory retorts, used for gentle boiling and then condensing the vapors of the material at hand. A water bath is used to keep the heat gentle and uniform. When even a water bath was too hot, Par̩ suggested that the sun's rays be used to evaporate away the fluid over the course of several days, which was again captured and condensed in a retort. This method was to be used to increase the strength and concentration of a compound that had already been put through an alembic.
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