¥ 
BOTANIC PHYSI zi 
r of Ammonia.—This inthe prepared ammonia; it has 
taste and smell of ammonia, but weaker, and i is efllorescent when 
exposed to the air. 
_ The volatile alkali and spirit obtained from ot? ammoniac, are the 
purest ofall he | nes of this kind. They are somewhat more 
: onious than those produced directly from animal substances _ 
: ways contain a portion of the oil of the subject, and receive : 
‘from thence some degree of a soapy quality. 
. volatile salt and spirit prepared from hartshorn ‘and niall 
s, are now entirely susperseded by those obtained from the sal 
at 
Volatile alkaline salts, and their solutions called spirits; by. thet 
stimulating smell, prove ’ serviceable in languors and faintings. Ta- 
_ ken internally, they stimulate, greatly promote perspiration, and act — 
a ularly on the nervous system. They prove useful in lethargic — 
cases; in hysterical and hypochondriacal disorders, and in the lan- 
sors, headachs, flatulent colics, and other symptoms which attend 
mm. In some fevers, particularly those ofa low kind, in aged per- 
nd those of phlegmatic habits, and accompanied with,a. cough, 
seness, &c. they are of great utility, raising the vital principle, 
Se exciting a | ~The dose of the salt is from 
fon to eieces grains, and of the spirit thirty or forty drops in cold 
water. 
» The spirit of sal ammmoniac has been employed with complete 
success in the cure of the bites of venomous snakes. The dose in 
this case should be, forty drops of the caustic volatile alkali immedi- 
ately after the accident ; and repeated every five minutes; while the 
os afiected are continually washed demas cig same preparation. 
a.“ eas oo! Oxyp-or Anapmie, 0% lee 
heavy, ccginken-urgataliinequbviaiiéer we wey singu- 
i nature, ‘contained 1 in the ore of other minerals. It is more par- 
ticularly found in the cobalt, from which most of the arsenic brought — 
to us is extracted in Saxony, by a kind of sublimation. It is very 
volatile, and easily oxydated. By oxydation it is converted intoa 
white powder, which has been considered as an Oxyd. 
‘Oxyd of arsenic is one of the most sudden and violent poisons we 
" are acquainted with. In mines, it causes the destruction ‘of num- 
ho-explore them ; and is frequently the instrument by which 
are sacrificed. “The fumes of arsenic are so deleterious to 
that the artist ought to be on his guard to prevent inha-- 
tio the mouth; for if they be mixed and swallowed with the 
aliva, effects will take place similar to those which follow: its intro- 
duction into the stomach in its saline state. : 
ae . Though the most deadly of mineral poisons, arsenic sc been em- 
loyed as medicine, internally, by many physicians, in intermittent 
ical headachs, &c. That it should have its effect to 
quell ~ 3 fits or disorders, need not ‘surprise us; for we may well 
“suppose that from its great power it would overcome and swallow up 
— oy other disease, and substitute itself, a greater disease. = 
