What are the uses of Wolfe's bottle?

Answer 1

This is another name for a retort,

i.e. a glass vessel with a round bulb and long tapering neck that is bent down, used esp in a laboratory for distillation

or

a vessel in which large quantities of material may be heated, esp one used for heating ores in the production of metals or heating coal to produce gas

It bears the name of its inventor, namely, Peter Wolf.