casing is placed a number of tubes through which the steam passes to be
condensed, the whole being simply a surface condenser with engine and
pump above. Another type is that of a small single-flued horizontal
boiler with combustion chamber and twenty or thirty return tubes--in
fact, the present high-pressure marine boiler on a small scale. A boiler
of this sort, measuring 4 ft. to 5 ft. long, 3 ft. 9 in. to 4 ft. 6 in.
diameter, would have a horizontal donkey engine on a bed at its side, and
at the end of the engine a vertical cylindrical condenser.

[Illustration]

Few have done more, perhaps none so much, as Dr. Normandy to make sea
water distillation not only a success as a source of water supply, but
also to supply it at a minimum cost for fuel. He by a peculiar
arrangement of pipes embodied something of the regenerative system in his
apparatus, using the heat taken from one lot of steam to generate more,
and again the heat from this he used over again. The defect of his older
arrangements was undue complexity and consequent trouble to keep in
order.

As can be well imagined, the distillers in use at Suakim are on a much
more colossal scale, and owing to the now almost universal use of surface
condensers in ocean steamers, no great difficulty ought to attend the
adaptation of the boilers and condensers of one of our transports. One of
these full-powered steamers will indicate, say, 5,000 horse-power, and
assuming her engines to use 25 lb. of steam per indicated horse-power, or
2¼ gallons, she could distill some 12,000 gallons of water per hour. As
no appreciable pressure of steam need be maintained, the boilers would
suffer little from deposit, especially if regularly blown out. Hard
firing need not be resorted to; indeed, it would be injudicious, as, of