Ammonia Liquid, Ammonize

AQUA, AMMONIA (SOLUTION OF). A. is readily absorbed by water, which takes up 670 times its own volume of the gas, forming the solution of A., or liquid A., as it is generally improperly called. This solution is a colorle transparent liquid, having a characteristic pungent smell, a burning caustic taste, and a strong alkaline reaction. At its greatest strength its specific gravity is 850, and it can only be kept in closely stoppered bottles. It is made by pa ing the gas through distilled water kept near the freezing-point by means of ice. It is of great use in the laboratory as a reagent, di olving many oxides and salts insoluble in water. It is employed in medicine as a stimulant. There are two degrees of strength used: the liquor ammon iæ fortior, of 850, and the ordinary liquor ammon iæ, or spirits of hartshorn, at 960. Mixed with oil, with which it forms a soap, it is used as a rubefacient, under the name of soap liniment. A. forms an infinite number of salts with the different acids, most of them similar in their properties to the corresponding salts of potash and soda. Acetate of A. , or Spirits of Mindererus, used in medicine as a refrigerant and diaphoretic. Carbonate of A. The carbonate of ammonia forms the smelling-salts of the chemist's shop, generally called Preston salts. Solution of carbonate of A. is sometimes used as an emetic. It is also used in the manufacture of unfermented bread. It is used in medicine as a stimulant. Form . NH CO. Nitrate of A. Used in the laboratory for the production of nitrous oxide, or laughing-gas. The crystals are melted in a retort, at a gentle heat, nitric acid being evaporated, and water remaining behind. Form . NH NO3 Sulphate of A. , much used as a cereal manure, is obtained in great quantities by neutralizing bone or gas-liquor, with sulphuric acid, evaporatiug and crystallizing. It is a four-sided prism, with square base; spec. grav. 2; of sharp, bitter taste; soluble in 2 parts of cold water; melts at 284°, and decomposes at 536°. Form. NH SO A. as a motive power. -The extreme solubility of ammoniacal gas is a property of which advantage may be taken for creating a vacuum, exactly as the same object is accomplished by the condensation of steam. On the other hand, it boils at 122° F., and affords a pre ure of six atmospheres at 2320, while steam requires a heat of 320° to produce the same result. Ammoniacal gas, therefore, seems to po e a combination of properties favorable to the production of an economical motive power. The first ammoniacal engine attracted much attention during the Paris exhibition of 1867, and is thus described. "The apparatus consists of a receiver for condensing the gas, and a condenser for its preservation and regeneration after it has served its purpose. The gas is driven off from the ordinary aqua-ammonia, and is liquefied under its own pre ure in a condenser, placed in a refrigerating mixture. The receiver, full of liquid ammonia, resembles the contrivance used to hold carbonic acid water for soda fountains. It is provided with coupling screws and washers, so that it can be attached to the stationary piston where the work is to be done. The liquefied gas, in strong receivers, and exerting a force of 7 to 10 atm., according to the heat applied, can be transported in vans and delivered to customers, precisely as soda-water is now carried through the streets. Attached to every stationary engine is a ve el filled with cold water, into which the gas pa es from behind the piston, just as steam is condensed in the low-pre ure engine, and this condenser contains all of the gas in a form to be again converted into liquid. When a new supply of liquefied A. is delivered from the van, the condensers will be carried away, and the A. recovered from them at the principal factory. It is claimed that, with twenty pounds of liquefied A. , a force equal to one-horse power can be maintained for one hour. An omnibus, with an A. engine of two-horse power, can be propelled 8 m. with 50 pounds of liquefied A. and 120 pounds of cold water. At the end of the route, a fresh supply of the liquefied A. and of cold water can be attached, and the A. afterwards reclaimed from the 120 pounds of water. Such an engine would disengage no smoke and no vapor; it would always be ready, and could be used to advantage on elevated railroads, in private houses, in mines, in tunnels, and on city railroads, for fire-engines, for balloons, and in situations where the combustion of air must be avoided. As A. will attack copper and bra with great avidity, it is nece ary to have these parts substituted by iron. Iron is preserved from rust, instead of suffering from it, and the whole engine can be made of this metal. The oil and fatty matters employed for lubrication will saponify with the A. , and thus make the joints tight and prevent friction.-Another French man, M. Fort, employs the solution of A. in water, or aqua ammonia. This solution only absorbs 126 units of heat in its vaporization, while water absorbs nearly five times as much heat."-Down to the present time (1897), however, these machines and other attempts to use Ammonia as a motive power, have come to no practical use. Ammoniacal, a. Having the properties of, or containing ammonia. Ammoniac, (Sal.) See AMMONIUM, CHLORIDE OF. Ammoniacum, n. ( Chem .) The Ammoniac Gum , a fetid gum-resin which exudes from the stem of the Do rem a ammoniacum , a plant growing in Persia. It is occasionally prescribed as an expectorant, and is applied externally to promote the absorption of tumors and chronic swellings of the joints. Am'monites, descendants of Ben Ammi, the son of Lot ( Gen. xix. 38), abt. в. с. 1897. They occupied a territory at one time in the po e ion of the Zamzummim, "a people great, and many, and tall as the Anakim." ( Deut . ii. 19-21.) Although the Israeli tes were commanded not to molest them, several wars ensued between the two nations, with varying succe . They oppre ed the Israeli tes в, с. 1206, but were defeated by Jephthah with great slaughter ( Judges xi. 32, 33), в. с 1188, and by Saul (1 Sam . xi.), в. с. 1095. David subdued them в. с. 1038. They afterwards recovered strength, and attacked Jehoshaphat, but were defeated, and, somewhat later, were mado tributary to Uzziah and Jotham (2 Chron . xx. 1-30, xxvi. 8, xxvii. 5). Their enmity still continued: They united with the Chaldeans to distre -Judah, and occupied the territory east of the Jordan. They hara ed the Jews after their return from captivity, and attacked them in the Maccabean wars (1 Macc . ν. 6, 30-43). Yet marriages were occasionally made between Israel and Ammon thus the mother of Rehoboam was an Ammon it e (1) Kings xiv. 31).