Sal Ammoniac

Sal Ammoniac, known also as Chloride of Ammonium, and sometimes as Hydrochlorate of Ammonia, is used in medicine and in chemistry to a considerable extent. It is obtained from the ammoniacal liquor of the gas-works by adding hydrochloric acid and then subliming it in iron pots, or by adding sulphuric acid and then subliming the ammonium sulphate with sodium chloride in the same way; on a small scale it may be made by adding hydrochloric acid to solution of ammonia. It occurs in colourless, odourless, translucent fibrous masses, with an acrid saline taste, and soluble in water. It is used as an expectorant in chronic bronchitis and pneumonia, as a diuretic, diaphoretic, and alternative in rheumatism, and as an alternative in neuralgia; it is also given in catarrhal conditions of the gastro-intestinal tract and in various hepatic diseases. While being dissolved in water it greatly lowers the temperature, and hence in solution can be used as a refrigerant. The dose is 5 to 20 grains given in solution. In chemistry it is largely used as a test. See AMMONIA.