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 distiller of this size would make about thirty gallons of fresh water per day.  Very frequently a distiller, such as is shown in the sketch, is mounted separately, and placed near the winch or donkey boiler, which supplies it with steam, the lower part, F, being then used as a filter.  The diameter of E is from 15 in. to 18 in., the outer casing being either iron or copper.  Another form of distiller is one like the above, but larger, and having a small donkey engine and circulating pump attached thereto.  As a rule these distillers are vertical, but larger apparatus are arranged horizontally.  To give our readers some general idea of size, weight, and produce of water, we may say that a plain cylindrical distiller, mounted on a square filter case, measuring 3 ft. 9 in. high, weighing 41/2 cwt., will distill twelve gallons per hour.  A larger size, measuring