Thomas Jefferson Papers
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https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-22-02-0282

To Thomas Jefferson from Caspar Wistar, Jr., 17 November 1791

From Caspar Wistar, Jr.

Novr. 17th. 1791.

Dr. Wistar offers respectful compliments to Mr. Jefferson. He thinks the Statement perfectly proper and hopes it will excite attention to a Circumstance that promises to be of use in every kind of distillation where boiling is necessary. He has intended for some time to make an experiment with a vessel which should unite Fitch and Voights and Poissonnieres idea of a fire place in the water, with Irvings pipe; and hopes to be able to do it before the business is finished. He will thank Mr. Jefferson for communicating any ideas that occur to him on the subject.

RC (MHi). Not recorded in SJL.

The statement was a text of TJ’s report on Jacob Isaacks’ proposed method for desalinating sea water, printed below at 21 Nov. 1791, and for which TJ made use of Wistar’s own experiments. Wistar, at TJ’s request, had subjected Isaack’s proposal to scientific testing (See Editorial Note and group of documents on experiments in desalination of sea water to test the claims of Jacob Isaacks, at 26 Mch. 1791).

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