Obs. [ad. med.L. circulātōri-um: cf. next.] A vessel for the old chemical process of circulation; an alembic or retort having the neck or necks bent back so as to re-enter the lower part of the retort, a ‘pelican.’
1559. Morwyng, Evonym., 11. Suffred … to putrifie in a circulatory or a blynde limbeck.
1641. French, Distill., iv. (1653), 98. Digest them in a Circulatory ten days.
1708. Phillips, Circulatory, a Glass-Vessel, in which the Steam of the distilled Liquor, by its rising and falling, rolls about as it were in a Circle.
1751. Chambers, Cycl., s.v., There are two kinds of circulatories; the diota or double vessel; and the pelican.
