34 
MANUFACTURE  OF   AMMONIA,  ETC. 
ammoniac)  is  obtained,  either  by  heating  the  crystallized  muriate 
or  a  mixture  of  sulphate  of  ammonia  and  common  salt,  or  sulphate 
of  ammonia  and  muriate  of  lime,  in  iron  pots,  and  collecting  the 
sublimed  salt  in  suitable  receivers,  attached  by  means  of  luting  to 
the  subliming  pots. 
As  the  mode  of  manufacturing  these  articles  vary  according  to 
particular  circumstances,  we  shall  proceed  to  mention  the  chief 
sources  whence  ammonia  and  its  salts  are  obtainable,  and  describe 
some  of  the  numerous  processes  which  have  of  late  years  been  de- 
vised for  obtaining  them  in  the  commercial  scale. 
Ammonia  from  Soot. — The  soot  arising  from  burning  the  dung 
of  camels  and  other  animals  appears  to  have  been  the  original 
source  of  ammonia.  Egypt  formerly  supplied  large  quantities  of 
muriate  of  ammonia  obtained  from  this  source,  Twenty-six  pounds 
of  soot  are  said  to  yield  six  pounds  of  sal-ammoniac.  From  coal 
soot  also,  a  considerable  quantity  of  ammonia,  in  the  state  of  car- 
bonate and  sulphate,  may  be  obtained,  either  by  sublimation  or 
iixiviation  with  water.  It  is  chiefly  on  account  of  the  ammonia 
contained  in  soot  that  this  substance  forms  so  valuable  a  manure. 
Ammonia  from  Bones,  fyc. — The  destructive  distillation  of  bones 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  animal  charcoal,  used  as  a  decolorizing 
agent  in  the  refining  of  sugar  and  various  chemical  salts,  is  a  source 
of  ammonia.  For  this  purpose,  the  bones  are  carbonized  in  suita- 
ble sized  retorts  or  pots,  the  products  of  distillation  being  water, 
carbonate  of  ammonia,  the  oil  called  Dippel's  oil,  and  some  incon- 
densable gases.  The  following  are  the  particulars  relative  to  the 
products,  as  manufactured  (in  France)  on  the  large  scale,  of  animal 
charcoal  and  ammoniacal  salts  : — Bones  of  various  kinds,  46,574 
tons  ;  silk  waste  and  old  leather,  30  tons  ;  sulphuric  acid,  11J  tons  ; 
common  salt,  80  tons,  and  plaster  of  Paris,  2f  tons,  were  the  raw 
materials  employed.  The  products  obtained  therefrom,  were  2,400 
tons  of  animal  charcoal,  44  tons  of  sal  ammoniac,  100  tons  of  sul- 
phate of  soda,  4  tons  of  liquor  ammonia,  and  25  tons  of  sulphate 
of  ammonia.  The  ammoniacal  salts  are  obtained  in  this  manufac- 
tory as  follows  : — 
Sulphate  of  Ammonia. — The  condensed  liquors  from  the  carboni- 
zation of  the  bones  are  separated  into  two  distinct  states,  the  oily 
jind  the  aqueous  products,  the  latter  of  these  containing  carbonate 
of  ammonia,  are  treated  with  sulphate  of  lime,  whence  result  in- 
