Alembic

Alembic (Arabic al-anbīq, 'the still') is a form of still introduced into chemistry by the alchemists, and used by the more ancient experimenters in manipulative chemistry for the distillation and sublimation of substances such as alcohol, or formic acid, obtained by heating a decoction of red ants in water. The alembic has now been entirely superseded by the retort and receiver, or by the flask attached to a Liebig's condenser. See RETORT.