Ammonium carbonate [NH4]2CO3 is the main ingredient in Victorian smelling salts. Also called baker's ammonia, sal volatile, salt of hartshorn and spirit of urine, it's historically used as a purgative in medicine, a mordant in dyeing, and in baking for leavening of bread.
![Ammonium carbonate [NH4]2CO3](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/cc75bb_f2509c13de994d608799d125db678c54~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_640,h_314,al_c,q_80,enc_auto/cc75bb_f2509c13de994d608799d125db678c54~mv2.jpg)
Ammonium carbonate is an ammonium salt of carbonic acid. Highly soluble in water, ammonium salts are known for their unique properties. Ammonium chloride (sal ammoniac) is commonly found in cough syrups, and ammonium phosphates are often used as fertilizers.
To make ammonium carbonate, carbonic acid reacts with ammonia. Carbonic acid (H2CO3) is a weak acid formed through dissolution of carbon dioxide in water. In nature it's involved in processes like cellular respiration and photosynthesis. It makes the fizz in drinks.
Ammonia takes its name from certain worshippers of the Egyptian god Amun, who use ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) or sal ammoniac in temple rites. Ammonium chloride occurs naturally in fumaroles or vents near volcanoes.
The Victorian Era: Smelling Salts
During the Victorian Era, smelling salts are a common remedy for fainting and feelings of dizziness. Ammonia is the active ingredient. Ammonium carbonate, often mixed with fragrant substances like lavender or rose to mask its strong odor, is a common constituent.
When inhaled, the ammonia vapors are a sudden stimulant to the respiratory system. The shock and pungent smell are supposed to revive a person feeling faint. In the Victorian Era, smelling salts are a widely used remedy for faintness, particularly among women.
While tight corsets are often blamed for female fainting, there are other reasons, such as Scheele's Green, a popular arsenic pigment of the 18th and 19th centuries, used in paint, wallpaper and fabric dye. It's especially toxic in humid conditions.
The dye is often used for the fabric-heavy dresses and garments of the time, and is also considered to be the death of Napoleon. It's later replaced by another arsenic pigment, Paris Green or arsenic trioxide, a popular paint on the palette of 19th century artists like van Gogh.
Ladies carry smelling salts in fancy containers and demure skirt pockets. Before availability of air conditioning, gatherings in hot crowded green rooms are perfect conditions for swooning. Even British constables carry them to revive fainters.
To get the desired revival effect, ammonia compound is saturated into cotton. Held beneath the nose of the fainter, acrid vapors issue forth to promptly re-activate the person. The product is obtained in bulk or single use form.
Smelling salts are still used today in sports such as hockey. They're banned in boxing due to the reflex jerking of the head, which can compound unseen injuries, resulting in a broken neck, spinal trauma and/or paralysis. They're never used on accident victims for this reason.
Smelling Salts Sal Ammoniac and Sal Volatile
Smelling salts are known since Roman times. Pliny the Elder refers to Hammoniacus sal or sal ammoniac in the 1st century AD.
In the 13th century alchemists reference sal ammoniac, or ammonium chloride. In the 14th-century "The Canon's Yeoman's Tale", one of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, an alchemist purports to use sal armonyak.
In the 17th century, the ammonia solution is distilled from shavings of harts' horns and hooves. It gives rise to the alternative name for ammonium carbonate smelling salts as spirit or salt of hartshorn. By the 19th century, smelling salts are wildly popular.
Ammonium Carbonate from Deer Antlers
Antlers of deer undergo a process of calcination or intense heat. Antlers are primarily composed of calcium phosphate and other organic materials. The calcined antlers break down to organic matter or carbon.
Treatment with ammonium salts creates ammonium carbonate or sal volatile. The calcination method is used in early production of the compound. "Bone black" is also a pigment of prehistoric artists using charred bones and antlers.
Spirit of Urine: The Name’s Origin
The term "spirit of urine" comes from the historical process of extracting ammonia from urine, which is rich in urea. Ammonia is formed as a byproduct of "breaking down" nitrogenous waste by bacteria.
Far from being a shameful thing to hide, urine is used throughout history for its properties. Dye makers, for instance, often used fermented urine as a mordant. Vessels were left out for people to dump their pots of pee, for this and other purposes.
Modern ammonium carbonate does not derive from urine. Today it's synthesized through chemical processes, typically involving the reaction of ammonia and carbon dioxide.
Culinary Uses of Ammonium Carbonate
In baking, ammonium carbonate is once used as a leavening agent, especially in recipes for cookies and crackers. When heated, it decomposes to release ammonia gas and carbon dioxide, which causes rising of dough.
Baker's ammonia is still used in the baking, as in specialty cookies and crackers. Unlike baking powder and baking soda, baker's ammonia is favored in recipes for a lighter texture and delicate crispness.
When heated, ammonium carbonate decomposes into ammonia gas, carbon dioxide, and water. This chemical reaction creates airy bakes, giving cookies their lightness. Traditional Scandinavian recipes, like pepparkakor (Swedish ginger snaps), may use baker's ammonia.
Medicinal Properties
Ammonium carbonate is historically used as an emetic to induce vomiting. It's one of the many purgatives popular in the Renaissance and up to the 19th century. Purging is based on the concept of the Four Humors theory, attributing sickness to an imbalance of body humors.
Use in this capacity has fallen out of favor. Ammonium carbonate is recognized for its medicinal properties, especially as a respiratory stimulant. When used in smelling salts, it triggers a quick inhalation response, effectively reviving someone who is feeling faint.
Facts About Ammonium Carbonate
Chemical Formula: ([NH4]2CO3)
Appearance: White solid, often found in crystalline form with a pungent odor.
Solubility: Soluble in water and decomposes to release ammonia when heated.
Safety: Considered safe in food application, but high concentrations can be irritating to the respiratory system.
Farming: Ammonium Carbonate is an ingredient in treatment of parasitic worms in sheep.
Non-Fiction Books:
Fiction Books:
READ: Lora Ley Adventures - Germanic Mythology Fiction Series
READ: Reiker For Hire - Victorian Detective Murder Mysteries