Description

This instrument consists of a glass tube with an inner channel with a series of five bulbs in it. The outer water envelope has two spigots to circulate a coolant, while the inner tube is open via taper joints on the top and bottom.

This type of glassware is named after the German chemist Felix Richard Allihn, and is used for vapor condensation, or turning gasses into liquids by cooling them. A coolant is pipped in to the outside of the tube, while the liquid to be cooled is pipped in through the inner channel, where the series of bulbs increases the surface area where vapor can condense.

This condenser is made of Pyrex, the Corning trade name for borosilicate glass. The Corning Glass Works developed a lead-free borosilicate glass as a consumer product in 1915. Though it was first used in consumer products like pie plates and casserole dishes, WWI-era shortages in laboratory equipment (which were mainly manufactured in Germany) led the company to expand into making glass labware.