47 » A M M 
oracle of great note, which Alexander the Great confult- 
ed, and which laded till the time of Theodolius. Ham- 
mon, the god of the Egyptians, was the fame with the 
Jupiter of the Greeks. He is thought to be the fame with 
Ham, who peopled Africa, and was the father of Miz- 
raim, the founder of the Egyptians. 
Ammon (Andreas), a Latinpoet, born at Lucca in Italy, 
was fent by pope Leo X. to England in the characters of 
prothonotary of theapodolic fee and colledor-generalof this 
kingdom. Being a man of Angular genius and learning, 
he (bon became acquainted with the principal literati of 
thofe times ; particularly with Erafmus, Colet, Grocin, 
■ and others, for the fake of whofe company he refided fome 
time at Oxford. The advice which Erafmus gives him, 
- in regard to pufhing his fortune, has a good deal of hu¬ 
mour in it, and was certainly intended as a fatire on the 
artful methods then pradifed by the felfifh and ambitious 
. clergy. “ In the firft place,” fays he, “ throw off all fenfe 
■ of fhanie; thruft yourfelf into every one’s bufinefs, and 
elbow out whomfoever you can ; neither love nor hate any 
■ one; meafure every thing by your own advantage; let 
this be the fcope and drift of all your actions. Give no- 
■ thing but what is to be returned with ufury, and be com- 
. plaifant to every body.” Ammon was Latin lecretary to 
. Henry VIII. In 1512 he was made canon and prebendary 
of St. Stephen’s, Wedminfter. He was likewife prebendary 
of-Wells ; and in 1514 was prefented to the reflory of 
. Dychial in that diocefe. About the fame time, by the 
king’s fpecial recommendation, he was alfo made preben¬ 
dary of Salilbury. He died in the year 1517, and was 
buried in St. Stephen’s chapel, Wedminder. His works 
are, Epidohe ad Erafmum; Scotici conflidus hidoria; 
Bucolicae vel eclogae, Bafil 1546, 8vo. De rebus nihil; 
Panegyricus quidam; Varii generis epigrammata; Poe- 
mata diverfe. 
AMMO'NIAC,y! [called alfo armoniacum, but impro¬ 
perly; hammoniaci lacryma ; ajfac ■, azac ; and in Englifli, 
gum ammoniac. Ammon took its name from ap-p*?, the 
lands, but the gum and the fal ammoniac , from the country 
called Ammonia .} It is a concrete gummi-refinous juice, 
produced in the Ead Indies, whence it is brought in 
malTes, confiding of little lumps, which inwardly are very 
white, but outwardly yellowifh or browmifh ; its whited 
parts become yellow on being expofed to the air. From 
what plant it is obtained, we know not certainly ; but, ac¬ 
cording to Diofcorides, it is from a fhrub called agafyllis. 
It has been fuppofed to be an exudation from a fpecies of 
ferula. It bath a drong fmell, fomewhat like that of 
galbanum, but not fo ungrateful, a naufeous fweetidi tade 
mixed with a bitternefs. Such pieces as are white, clear, 
free from foreign matter, dry, and large, lhould be pre¬ 
ferred for internal life. Thrown on live coals, it burns 
away in flames : it is foluble both in water and vinegar 
into a Ifind of milk ; but the rednous part, vHiich is nearly 
one half of the w hole, fubfides on Aanding : fpirit of wine 
didolves near one half of it, taking up all its- active parts. 
Dr. Dedier fays, ft i. of this gum, afforded by didilla- 
tion of phlegm 5 vi. volatile fpirit § ij. a volatile foetid 
oil § vi. and the remainder was a caput mortuum. But 
other fkilful chemids have failed to obtain any oil from it 
by this procefs. Water is very dightly impregnated with 
it by didillatioii. This drug is an excellent deobdruent in 
hyderics, when caufed by retarded menfes, and in other 
abdominal obdruftions : dilfolved in the acet. fcillae, it is 
a powerful expectorant, for vinegar greatly exalts its 
virtue in this particular: in old-danding cholieky fymp- 
toms, proceeding from vifeid matter in the intedincs, it 
produces very happy effects : it is on a par with the affa 
foetida for virtues of the fame kind as the affa foetida 
pofTeffeth, though it is lefs naufeous and lefs antifpafmo- 
dic ; but its principal virtues are attribued to its expecto¬ 
rant powers in afthmas, and difficult breathing: it gently 
moves the belly, and, externally applied, it has been re¬ 
commended for refblving indurated tumours, though the 
tiieory of this feems to many very doubtful. 
A M M 
The fetid gums agree in their effefts with oily aroma¬ 
tics, but have alfo acrid poignant falts conjoined, and fa 
more forcibly raife, diroulate, and promote fee ret ions ; 
But the gum ammoniac is peculiar, as its oil, which is but 
little, is not aromatic, but inodorous, and it is not fo 
heating and rarefying as the others are ; but it hath the 
fame acrid falts; therefore, it may be tiled in fevers with 
turgid blood, and in robud habits, having fo excellent a 
dimulus, without the power of rarefaction. Of,this fort, 
among plants, are the vifeus and dracontium, among roots 
the arum and fcilla, and mod of the vegetable emetics. 
The dofe may be from gr. x. to 3 fe,. three times a day. 
Dilfolved in water it is called lac ammon. , ammoniacal milk. 
Be Gum ammon. opt. 3 ij. aq. didillat;c ft fj, m. P. L. 
17S8. Thus adminidered, it is more active than in pills ; 
the dofe may be two large fpoonfuls three or four times 
in twenty-four hours. It varies only from the old for¬ 
mula, by having the diddled water fubdituted for that of 
penny-royal. 
Sal Ammoniac, f. [ammonia muriata, called alfo cyrc- 
niacus fal, ammoniac fait, and armoriiac-, but improperly. J 
Many writers fpeak of the natural and artificial. The 
natural fort fpoken of by the ancients, according to Diof¬ 
corides, is only the fal gem, and is reckoned by them 
among the alimentary falts ; but many others fay that it 
was made from the urine of camels, and was depofited in 
the fands near the temple of Jupiter Ammon. We have 
no evidence of native fal ammoniac of this fort being found. 
Tournefort obferves, that out of the limple native falts 
other compounded faits are naturally produced, viz. the 
edential falts which naturally are concreted from thejuices 
of plants, among which are natural ammoniacal falts. 
The artificial is the only fort known and ufed in the 
diops. It is a neutral fort, compofed of a volatile alkaline 
fait, and the acid of fea-falt; hence the term ammonia mu¬ 
riata ; this is the only genuine fort, though it may be made 
with the vitriolic or with the nitrous acid. The different 
forts formed of the diderent mineral acids, are thus diftin- 
guifhed ; by dropping oil of vitriol on that made with the 
acid of fea-falt, white fumes immediately arife ; red fumes 
from that made of the nitrous acid ; and no effeCt follows 
from that made with the oil of vitriol. 
Sal ammoniac is brought to us generally in round cakes, 
convex on one flde, and concave on the other, from the 
fhape of the veffels into which they are ftiblimed. When 
tliefe cakes are broken, the fait appears of a needled tex¬ 
ture, or compofed of ftrite, running tranfverfely and parallel 
to one another ; the internal part is generally pure, and of 
an almod tranfparent whitenefs ; the outfide for the mod 
part is foul, and of a yellowidi green or black hue. Li 
England, this fait is obtained from burnt cow’s dung ; 
urinous felt, joined with an acid, produceth ammoniacal 
felt ; it is obtainable from every fpecies of foots by fubli - 
mation or folution. At Newcadle, it is made from the 
bittern, which remains afier making common fall, and 
old urine ; from 100 pounds weight of the bitter cathar¬ 
tic fait, and three hogflieads of urine, fifty-fix pounds of 
fal ammoniac is obtained. In Egypt it is made from the 
burnt dung of quadrupeds that feed only on vegetables : 
this dung is collected in the fird four months in the year, 
when the cattle feed on fpring gt'afs, which is a fort of 
clover: at other feafons, and when the cattle eat other 
fort of food, it is unfit for this purpofe. As to the camel, 
its excrements are not preferable to thofe of any other of 
their cattle which feed on grafs, nor is their urine ever 
ufed, though fo commonly declared by writers on this fub- 
jeCL Mr. Hadelquid fays, that the felt-workers in Egypt 
pretend, that the excrements from men, goats, and dteep, 
are preferable to all others; and he farther tells us, that 
March and April are the only times, in which they make 
this felt. See the account in his voyages. 
The ammoniac felt hath many and rueful properties. 
It is foluble in water, and fpirit of wine, and in the air 
alone. It renders water extremely cold while continuing 
to diiflblve into it. The crude felt, when fiiffolved in >ra - 
