AMMi'MA. 



AMMONIA. 



' 



a* if it bad returned from Ethiopia. What power was won>hipi-d. 

 under this form i yet doubtful, wiuie contend that it was the un, 



others tliat it was the zodiacal sign Aries. The number twelve is 

 further held to point to the astronomical character of Ammon and 

 his place in the Zodiac; while he has also been described as the 

 spirit of the universe and the author of all life. Sir J. G. Wilkin- 

 son's theory is, that the Egyptians had the idea of an abstract and 

 supreme deity, " worshipped in silence," according to Jamblichus, 

 but that the attributes of this deity were soon divided amongst a 

 variety of gods, of whom they gave bodily representations. Ammon 

 was the " divine mind in operation, the bringer to light of the 

 secrete of its hidden will." Women of high rank are represented 

 on Egyptian monuments as ministering in the temple of Ammon. 

 The two chief Ammonian temples which now exist are that at Carnak, 

 on the east side of the Nile, forming part of the extensive ruins 

 of Thebes, and that of the oasis of Siwah. in the Libyan Desert, 

 known to the Greeks by the name of Ammonium ; this last has been 

 described by Mr. Bayle St. John in hia ' Adventures in the Libyan 

 Desert,' 1851. 



The Greeks adopted the worship of Ammon at an early period. 

 There wan a temple and statue, the gift of Pindar, erected to him at 

 Thebes ; Pindar* also celebrates him in an ode. Other places where he 

 is known to have been worshipped were Sparta, Apbylis, Megalopolis, 

 and Cyrenaica. Alexander's visit to the Ammonium at Siwah is well 

 known. 



We find in Jeremiah xlvi. 25, and Ezekiel xxx. 15, the expression 

 Amon-No ; and in Nahum in. 8, that of No-Amon, given as No only 

 in the authorised translation. The former is supposed to refer to the 

 Greek Diospolis, or ' City of Jupiter/ now forming part of the ruins 

 of Thebes. The No of Nahum is more .probably the Diospolis of 

 the Delta. 



The name Anion forms a part of the proper name of several Egyptian 

 kings and persons, such as Amenotph and Ptamon ; and is also often 

 used in the title or qualifying term applied to the name of a king ; 

 thus we find on tin- monuments prefixed to the name of linmses, the 

 title Amn-wai, ' beloved by Ammon.' 



[Jablonsky's Pantheon; J. C. Prichard's K;/i//itian Mythoto;/!/ ; J. V. 

 Chainiiollion, I'anihcun fot'i/itien ; Idelcr, llandburk tier Chronoloyie ; 

 Sir J. G.Wilkinson's Ancient fyi>t/itini<*.] 



AMMONIA (NHJ .V"' '/ H'trtthan Volatile Aliali. This 

 highly important compound was first procured in a pure state by 

 Priestley, who termed it alkaline air ; he obtained it from sal-ammo- 

 niac (chloride of ammonium), and hence the present name of the com- 

 pound. Ammonia exist* in the atmosphere to the extent of al>< 

 volume in 28,000,000 volumes of air ; it occurs also in rain, river, and 

 ea water, and is a product of volcanic action and of the putrefaction 

 and decay of organic matters containing nitrogen. It is also foimiil 

 during the destructive distillation of animal and vegetable substances ; 

 the chief source of our present supply of ammonia and its ooinpouinl-* 

 being, in fact, the processes of illuminating-gas and bone-black manu- 

 facture. There result* from these latter operations an aqueous liquor 

 of an insupportable odour, termed nmmvxiacal lit/uor, which contains a 

 considerable quantity of the carbonate anil xnlphidc of ammonium ; "ii 

 the addition of hydrochloric acid to this liquor, these ammoniacal 

 compounds are decomposed, and chloride of ammonium formed, together 



with carbonic acid and sulphuretted hydrogen gates, which latter escape 

 into the atmosphere. 



NH.O.CO, + HC1 = NU.C1 + CO,. 



Carbonate of Hydrochloric Chloride of Carbonic add. 

 ammonia. add. ammonium. 



XII, S -r HO = NH.C1 + H8. 



Sulphide of 

 Ammonium. 



When the chloride of ammonium thus formed i* mixed with its own 

 weight of slaked lime, and heat applied to the mixture, abundance of 

 gaseous ammonia is evolved, and may be collected either in glass 

 vessels over mercury or by the displacement of atmospheric air from 

 inverted jars. [GASES, COLLECTION or.] 



NH.Cl + CaO 



Nil, + CaCl + HO. 



Lime. Ammonia. Cloride of Water, 

 calcium. 



Ammonia cannot be produced by the direct 'union of its elements ; 

 but when hydrogen is presented to nitrogen in the nascent state, the. 

 elements unite and form ammonia. This is the case when moistened 

 iron filings are exposed either to air or to pure nitrogen. 



Ammonia ia also formed when zinc, iron, or tin is dissolved in dilute 

 nitric acid. 



Propertiet. At ordinary temperatures and pressures ammonia exists 

 as a colourless and invisible gas, possessing a powerful and extremely 

 pungent odour and an alkaline taste. Its specific gravity is 0'5902, and 

 100 cubic inches weigh almost exactly 18 grains. 



Mr. Faraday (' Phil. Trans.' 1828, p. 189) found, that by subjecting am- 

 moniacal gas to a pressure of about 64 atmospheres, at the temperature 

 of 50, it became a colourless transparent liquid, the density of which 

 was 0760, water being 1. 



An animal plunged into ammoniacal gas is immediately killed, and a 

 taper when immersed in it is extinguished : it appears, however, to IK; 

 slightly inflammable; for the flame is rather enlarged before it goes out, 

 and a small jet of the gas may be burned in oxygen. 



Dr. Priestley found that, by moderate degrees of heat, ammoniacal 

 gas is merely expanded ; but when passed through an ignited porcelain 

 tube, it is decomposed, and, increasing to double ite volume, rendered 

 inflammable. (' Experiments on Air,' vol. ii. p. 393.) He also first 

 proved that it is decomposed by the electric spark, and separated into 

 hydrogen and nitrogen gases (vol. iii. p. 389). These experiments 

 have been repeated by Berthollet, Davy, and Gay-Lussac. L)r. Henry 

 (' Annals of Philosophy,' N. S., viii. p. 317) also found that when am- 

 moniacal gas is exposed to a current of electric sparks, ite volume is 

 exactly doubled, and it is resolved into three volumes of hydrogen gas, 

 and one volume of nitrogen gas. As the result of these experiments 

 it is obvious that ammoniacal gas is a compound of three volumes of 

 hydrogen and one volume of nitrogen gas, the four volumes being 

 condensed to two : by weight it is composed of 



Three atoms of hydrogen 1x3= 3 or per cent 17-64 

 One atom of nitrogen . . 14 82'86 



Weight of the atom . . =17 



100- 



That this is the composition of the gas in question is also shown l.\ 

 comparing its calculated and actual density. According to Dr. Thomson 

 (' Chemistry of Inorganic Bodies,' vol. i. p. 704), 300 cubic in. 1 

 hydrogen gas weigh ti'4842 grains, and 100 cubic inches of nitrogen 

 gas weigh 30-2794 grains, making together 367030 grains ; but during 

 combination the gases condense to half their volume, consequently 

 200 cubic inches of ammoniacal gas weigh theoretically 307036 grains, 

 and 100 weigh 18'8818. Now, according to Allen and IVpys the \\ ei^hi 

 by actual experiment is 18'18 grains, which is sufficiently near the 

 calculated statement to prove its correctness. 



Ammonia is powerfully alkaline, restoring the blue colour 

 ili-m-il litmus, turning turmeric paper reddish-brown. ami perfectly 

 neutralising the strongest acids forming the different salts of ammonia, 

 r dissolves ammoniacal gas with great rapidity, and in large 

 quantity; a few drops of water thrown up into a jar of the gas 

 instantly condense it ; a piece of ice also immediately liquifies in and 

 e.. i nil-line* the gas. Water at 50 is capable of condensing 670 times its 

 volume; the density of the solution diminishes as its strength 

 increase*, so that, according to Davy, with whom . .th, i i-ln-mi-l* nearly 

 agree, when water contains PJ per cent, of ammonia, i: 

 0*9692; but when it holds 32 4 per cent., it is reduced to 0-8750. Tin- 

 aqueous solution is colourless, transparent, and has the pungency and 

 alkaline property of the gas; by exposure to the air, the ammonia 

 partially escapes, and by tin a|i|.lie.-itinn of heat it is expelled from the 

 water ; on account of this volatility of ammonia, vegetable colours 

 which have been altered by it regain their original tints as it evaporates, 

 which is not the case when the change has been caused by the fixed 

 alkalies. 



