Editing Destructive distillation (section)

==History==
[[File:Pliny the Elder, Loggia del Consiglio, Piazza dei Signori, Verona (37520060770) (cropped).jpg|alt=Head of a statue of Pliny the Elder|thumb|169x169px|Pliny the Elder]]
In his encyclopedic work ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]'' ({{langx|la|Naturalis Historia}}) the Roman naturalist and author [[Pliny the Elder]] (23/24 –79 CE) describes how, in the destructive distillation of pine wood, two liquid fractions are produced: a lighter (aromatic oils) and a heavier ([[pitch_(resin)|pitch]]). The lighter fraction is released in the form of gases, which are condensed and collected.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pliny the Elder |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/50041 |title=The Natural History of Pliny: Translated, with Copious Notes and Illustrations |publisher=Henry G. Bohn |year=1855 |volume=III |translator-last=Bostock |translator-first=John |chapter=XVI.21(11) |orig-date=Pliny published the first 10 books in 77 CE. The rest was published posthumously by Pliny the Younger |translator-last2=Riley |translator-first2=Henry Thomas |chapter-url=https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/59131/pg59131-images.html#BOOK_XVI_CHAP_21}}</ref>
{{Blockquote|text=In Europe, tar is extracted from the torch-tree [''[[Pinus mugo]]''] by the agency of fire; it is employed for coating ships and for many other useful purposes. The wood of the tree is chopped into small billets, and then put into a furnace ... The first steam that exudes flows in the form of [a liquid] into a reservoir made for its reception: in Syria this substance is known as “cedrium” {{bracket|[[cedar oil]]}}; and it possesses such remarkable strength, that in Egypt the bodies of the dead, after being steeped in it, are [[Mummy|preserved from all corruption]]. The liquid that follows is of a thicker consistency, and constitutes pitch.}}