AMMONIAC (GUM). 



AMMON I 'I 



rmnhJnAi"n* with carbonic acid have the same properties a* the pure 

 alkali, in rwpect to volatility, and only a diminished degree of 



The ga* ill an undiluted rtato U highlv pungent, with a suffocating 

 (idour, ia irracpirahle, and irritate* and inflame* the animal tissues. 

 (Chrutiaoo.) Dilated by puaing through the air. from which it 

 abnrfa* moisture and carbonic acid, which verve further to lamon it* 

 crimoov, it in oooaaoaally, but rarely, applied to the eyes, in some 

 paiave inflammation*, and to keep up vigilance in canes of somnolence 

 from narcotic poiaona, This Uit mode of using it i* scarcely to be 

 recommended, a* dangerou* inflammation of the eye* may subsequently 

 follow. Indeed all employment of even the less caustic forms of 

 administration, when much insensibility exist*, such as in fainting*, 

 epileptic fits, or from narcotic poisons, likewise in experiment* on 

 person* in the state termed mesmeric coma, requires great care, 

 Fatal inflammation of the windpipe has ensued by merely holding 

 carbonate of ammonia (smelling salt*) or a handkerchief dipped in 

 strong aqua ammonue under the nostrils. (Nysten.) When it is to 

 be introduced into the stomach, this should be done by means of the 

 stomach-pump, to avoid any of it passing into the windpipe. Besides 

 it* local action, exciting inflammation and it* effect*, ammonia is itself 

 poisonous, it* secondary effect on the nervous system, particularly the 

 spinal column, being sufficient to cause tetanic convulsions. Though 

 K.iu de Cologne may be grateful to adult*, the vapour is unsafe for 

 children. (See 'Lancet' for April, 1844.) 



Ammoniac*! gas absorbed by water constitutes the aqua or /iV/if/r 

 ammonia. This is formed of two different degrees of strength : the 

 "tie of a density of 882 at 62 F. called fartior, much too strong for 

 any medicinal purpose, and only employed for some chemical purposes ; 

 the other of the density of 060, which also generally requires to be 

 diluted further with water when intended for internal use, or with 

 oils for external use, as it ia very frequently, to form rubefacient 

 liniment.-. The solution of the carbonate is likewise frequently 

 employed in combination with oils. These, if long applied, or 

 frequently repeated, cause inflammation which terminates in suppu- 

 ration and ulceration. 



Ammonia, when suitably diluted so as to be taken into the stomach, 

 cause* a feeling of warmth, with increased energy of the nervous 

 power. Hence it act* as a prompt and valuable counter-poison to 

 pnissic acid, the bite* of ser|>ents, and the poison of many diseases, 

 such a* cholera asiatica, and typhoid fevers, at the commencement of 

 which great depression of the nervous system is observed. In lesser 

 degrees of depression, such as the languor of hysterical females, or in 

 atonic gout, ammonia or it* carbonates are daily resorted to. It is 

 likewise employed to counteract acidity in the stomach. It must not 

 be overlooked however that the long continued use of ammonia 

 produces the same ill effects as the other alkalies when taken in excess. 

 [ALKALIES.] 



The saltn of ammonia require a brief notice. The properties of the 

 different combinations of ammonia with carbonic acid are too similar 

 to those of the pure alkali to be noted separately, except to state that 

 carbonate of ammonia furnishes a good emetic in the earliest stage of 

 fever with great depression, and i* in smaller doses given freely 

 throughout adynamic fevers, sometimes in the effervescing form, espe- 

 cially when action of the skin is desired. Citric acid is employed to 

 cause it to effervesce. 



Hydrochlorate of ammonia i little employed in this country inter 

 oally, but it may be beneficially used in combination with cinchona 

 bark in fevers. In large doses it is poisonous. It is however chiefly 

 employed to form discutient and evaporating lotions in conjunction 

 with vinegar and spirit For these it is most valuable, at the moment 

 of solution. 



Acetate of ammonia has little of the causticity of the pure alkali or 

 the carbonates, neither is it volatile. It is so deliquescent that it 

 cannot be kept in the solid form, and is always administered in weak 

 acetic acid. This forms a most grateful refrigerant at the commence- 

 ment of slight inflammatory complaint*, and if the patient be kept 

 warm, generally induces perspiration. For this purpose it requires to 

 be freely given. It is alto a diuretic, but not much employed. 

 Properly diluted with rose-water it forms a cooling eyewash, most 

 grateful after some forms of inflammation, to relieve the turgescence 

 which remain*, or even to remove turgencence which ha* not been 

 preceded by inflammation. Scarp* thought it useful against com 

 mencing amaurosis. 



AMMONIAC (GUM), a concrete juice produced in Persia, Al ys 

 sinu, Ac., but the plant from which it is obtained doe* not appear to 

 have been ascertained. Willdenow refers it to the llerarlenm >iummi- 

 fmm, in which he is followed by the British College of Physicians. 

 Others refer it to the Ftmla orientalit. It consist* of grains of various 

 law, usually called ttart : they are either separate or agglutinate. I into 

 mtmm ; their colour U whitish, but they become yellow by the action 

 of the air; they are shining, opaque, irregular in shape, and T 



globular. When cold, ammoniac i* rather hard and brittle ; it 

 by the heat of the hand, but doe* not entirely liquify at a 

 _ IT heat. The smell is peculiar and disagreeable, and the fawte is 

 nauseous, at first mucilaginous and bitter, and afterwards acrid. Its 

 peciflc gravity u 1 207. When triturated with water, it is partly 

 duaolved, forming an emulxion which become* clearer on standing. 



When distilled with water, it loses it* volatile oil, and becomes in- 

 odorous ; the distilled water has the odour of the pun. and small drops 

 if limpid, colourlms oil float on it* surface. Alcohol take* up about 

 lalf it* Wright, forming a brownish -yellow solution, whieh Wronies 

 turbid when mixed with water. It is combustible, liuming with a 

 white fl.ime. little smoke, and a strong smell ; the ashes left consist of 

 small portions of the carbonate* of potash and lime, and phosphate of 

 ime. 



Sulphuric acid readily dissolves ammoniac, and water 

 the solution ; nitric acid converts it into a bitter substance ; the fixed 

 alkalies form with it a turbid solution, which is extremely bitter. 

 According to Bucholz, ammoniac consist* of 



Resin 



Oum 



Bamorine 1-6 



Volatile oil, water, and loss . . . 4-0 



100 



[t w used in medieine a* a stimulant and expectorant 



AMMOTflACUM Mtdicalproprrti, < /. Thisguiu-resiti 

 referred to the Dvrtma ammoniarum (Don, in ' Linntean Trans.,' vol. xvi. 

 l>. 599), which wa* discovered by Lieut -Col. Wright.growing near Yezd 

 Khiwt, a town of Irak Ajemi, the ancient Persia, about 42 miles south 

 of Ispahan. It* Persian names are Ooshk and Ooshook, It has 

 recently been found on the low hills near Herat, likewise 

 in Syghan, near Bameean, on the north-west slope of the Hindu Coosh 



range of mountain*- (ChrUtisoll.) 



Ammoniacum was known to the ancient* : but it is supposed tint 

 what they used came from Africa as well as Asia, and was procured 

 from a species of Ferula. P. linyilnna (Linn.) 



The Persian plant yields the juice chiefly from the stalk, especially 

 the points of divarication of the umbels, owing to the punctures of 

 numerous coleopterous insects. " The gum is so abundant, tint UJKHI 

 the slightest puncture being made, it instantly oozes forth, even at the 

 ends of the leaves." (Cnpt. Hart, 'Trans, of Medical Society of 

 Calcutta,' vol. i. p. 369.) The juice quickly dries, and is either picked 

 off or allowed to accumulate till it falls on the ground. This collection 

 takes place about the middle of June. A tenth part is remitted as 

 tribute to the government ; the rest is sent to Bushire, on the Persian 

 Gulf, and thence to Europe. The best comes by Bombay. The juice 

 of the Syghan plant is obtained by making successive slices of the 

 root, as in the case of assafootida. The samples vary much in quality. 

 The directions given to purify the inferior sort*, by softening them in 

 boiling water, and squeezing them through a cloth, though capable of 

 removing mechanical impurities, impair the power of the gum-resin, by 

 driving off the volatile oil, whieh even in good specimens is ii"i 

 abundant, 32 ounces yielding by distillation only one di-ielim. 



The officinal form for administering ammoniac-urn is the ml.rlnrr. in 

 which it is partially dissolved and partially suspended in .. 

 most valuable expectorant, and may have its virtues increased by tie 

 addition of squills or ipecacuanha. Dilute nitric acid greatly In i 

 its powers. It is also an ingredient in the compound squill pill-. 

 Externally it is applied as a plaster, to disperse imloliir 

 either softened by vinegar, a form which has kept its place amid all 

 the changes in medical agents for nearly 2000 years, or combined with 

 mercury, which is often beneficial. 



AMMONITI'S. a n.iti.iii desemded, according to Gen. xix. 38, from 

 the incestuous connection of Lot with his younger daughter, about the 

 year 1898 B.C. The name of their progenitor, Ben Ammi, means wit 

 of my iindrtil, and the name Ammnn has nearly the same - 

 The Ammonites, or the children of Ammon, are called by 

 gint and Joeephus, AmmaniUc. The country which they inh 

 was situated between the rivers Arnon and Jabbok, north-north-east of 

 the Moabites, and east of the tribes of Reuben and Oad. The Israelite, 

 under Moses, smote the Amoriteo, and possessed their land from AriMii 

 unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon, about the year 1452 

 before Christ : but they did not enter the territory of the A mm 

 for the lx>rder of the children of Ammon was strong. (Num. x\ 

 The Israelites were directed not to distress the children of ,\- 

 because the Lord had given the land unto the ehil> 

 possession. The Ammonites, however, shoved the Israelite* no kind- 

 ness while passing through the countiy. and they were tl.. 

 forbidden 'entering the congregation of the Lord. 1 Their aetive 

 hostility is first mentioned in Judges iii. when they hel|il Union, king 

 of Moab, to subjugate Israel, and their h. iiiued. They 



sustained, in consequence, a severe defeat from .Tephthah. (JucU 

 The history of the wars between the Israelites and the Ammonites are 

 recorded in the Pentateuch and other books of the Old Testament, and 

 in the book of Maccabees. 



From the prophetic writings we derive dome further information as 

 to the history and character of the Ammonites. Their ! 

 predicted by Isaiah xi. 14; Zephaniah ii. !' : Jeremiah xli 

 K/:ekiel xxv. In the days of Justin M.-u-tjr, the Ammonite* were 

 still very numerous ; and in the days nf Origcn, the Ammonites and 

 Kdomitnt went under the genera! name of Aral 



Their metropolis wa* Kabbah. The surrounding country wa* called 

 Arabia Philadelphienai*. 



