"About the Year 1675, William Walcot, Brother to Sir , obtained a Patent for making Sea-Water fresh: And the King, before the Grant of this Patent, had the curiosity to go and see Mr. Walcot do it, which was by distilling it in a very large Still; into the Still he put some Ingredient, which was to cure the distilled Water of any noxious Quality: But what it was, he kept a great secret. I suspect that the principal thing was only Distillation, because in all his printed Accounts of it, he purposely avoids the calling it a Still, but calls it a Machine or Engine, and Distilling he calls the working of the Machine, not Distilling."