AQUILIA COELESTIS - Heavenly Eagle Smelling Salts
What are Smelling Salts?
Smelling Salts are traditional medicines known for their use in "arousing consciousness" typically in the case of fainting. Their effects are a result of inhaling volatile Ammonia compounds thus irritating the mucous membranes of the nose and lungs causing an inhalation reflex leading to enhanced respiratory rate and heightened alertness. This works by decomposing an ammonium carbonate salt through hydrolysis (moisture present in the air) or heat (when used in baking) to produce pure ammonia, leaving behind the salt content. Typical smelling salts add perfume adjuncts to mask the poor stench of ammonia, reminiscent of old piss, to make a more palatable product. These Salts can be easily made through simple chemical processes, but first we need a little background because it truly is an incredible process of discovery, starting all the way back in ancient Egypt, making its way through Roman empire and surviving Vesuvius via Pliny the Elder, and into Paracelsian alchemy and finally into modern chemistry with a tangent to Haber-Bosch, alllll the way up Joe Rogans nose.
GENESIS
The earliest references to their use are slightly obscure, with three soft options which may or may not explain their supposed origin, all coming from the greco-roman-egyptian God Ammon, promoted by Pliny the Elder, and one hard option from the 13th century alchemists.
Plinys' seminole work Naturalis Historica describes one 'sal ammoniac', an enigmatic title for a smelling salt like type of substance:
1. Ammon, a town in the Siwa Oasis, Lybia, home to the Temple of Ammon (God of Jupiter), the Kemeten Ram god, which is important for the second proposed origin contains a ujnique crystalline substance which is a common source of sal ammoniac. These sands contained a naturally occurring deliquescent mineral salt, now known as the chemical Ammonium chloride (NH4Cl). When NH4Cl is burned, it produces NH3 (gaseous ammonia) and HCl (gaseous hydrochloric acid) which is a different chemical composition than modern "smelling salts" (ammonium carbonate). Sal ammoniac produces impure ammonia, while modern smelling salts produce pure ammonia, both from different precurosrs, both of which have differing effects.
Pliny briefly describes these Libyan salts and their uses. However, Herbert Hoover, the 31st president also commented on it in his translation of Georgius Agricolas De re metallica, that Pliny may have been misunderstood, stating that the salt Pliny described was likely a common sea salt from that area, and was not our mineral, ammonium chloride. This is due to Plinys description of the medicinal effects. In any event, the name, sal ammoniac was adopted to become the generic name for ammonium chloride minerals and later to most of the ammonia baring compounds.
2. The second proposed origin was the direct discovery of ammonia derivatives found in the soot of walls in the Temples of Ammon, suggesting the priestcraft were producing the gasses from sal ammoniac-ammonium chloride minerals by burning the salts in their ceremonial processions and ritual sacrifices to Ammon. Likely from the aforementioned sal ammoniac crystals found in the surrounding areas.
3. Our last potential ancient option comes from a plant extract of Dorema ammoniacum, an Asterid commonly known as Ammoniacum, native to Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and source of the Persian 'gum ammoniac'. Further given its name from the its use in the temple ceremonies of Ammon, likewise described by Pliny, who gave a financial value of 'forty asses per pound' for the best quality plants.
Ultimately, all of these three potential sources of the application of medicinal ammonia owe their namesake to the Jupiterian God Ammon of the Egyptians, whos multifaceted manifestation was present in three different modalities; as a mineral salt, a plant extract, and a ritual tool (likely deriving from the mineral, though also possible fo have derived from the plant, but other possible sources available, such as fermented urine, dung, and other plant matter).
ALCHEMY OF SMELLING SALTS - SPIRIT OF HARTSHORN
The 4th and most concrete origin of smelling salts come from the western mystical tradition of alchemy. As you can see, the term "Sal ammoniac" has been used to refer to multiple different compounds, from multiple different sources at this point, all linked through metaphysics. This will only be exacerbated by the alchemists who adopted Sal - meaning spirit, ammoniac- meaning ammonia to the salt based product distilled from the antlers and hooves of red harts, which when crystallized, produces what we know today as "smelling salts", and chemically as ammonium carbonate (NH4CO3).
THE HEAVENLY EAGLE
More romantically it was referred to as Aquilia Caelestis, Aquilia meaning Eagle, Caelestis meaning Heavenly or Celestial. The symbolic meaning of the eagle being profusely apparent, associated with the element of air, and is connected to the idea of an ascent and often with two heads, known as the bird of resurrection commonly depicted next to the phoenix, symbolizing the Great Work. Further the bird and eagle are representing the volatile nature of ammonia, as they are both ready to give flight. The eagle, phoenix, and birds, often are connected to reptillians, as far back as Egypt, as im sure you know, which was a sentiment carried forth in alchemy, seen below:
Aquila is also the constellation found on the celestial equator, one of the original 48 described by Ptolemy, which comes from greco roman mythology, and now on of the accepted 88 described by the International Astronomical Union
Aquila in greco-roman mythology was known to carry Zeus/JUPITERS thunder bolts. Many scholars believe it to be based on the Babylonian constellation of the Eagle.
At any rate, this is why I have decided to name my own brand of smelling salts the HEAVENLY EAGLE.
I also think it is worth noting, that Ammon, the Ram God of Romans and Egyptians, whose most notable feature is the horns protruding from his head, have a divinely serendipitous connection to the fact that Aquila Coelestis is produced from the distillation and purification of the horns of the Hart (or Red Deer). Though no distinct connection is made by the alchemists to the deers' antlers, the product of its distillation, and the horns of Ammon, I find this correspondence too obvious to overlook.
The Path to Chemistry
It was Paracelsus who paved the way of understanding the medicinal application of mineral salts (as we know with spagyria) and the preparation of the refined form of ammonium carbonate through the preparation of 'volatile salts' like those from Harts horns and hooves that ultimately led into the modern characterization and synthesis by Claude Louis Berthollet, a French chemist, in the late 18th century, who was one of the first to describe ammonium carbonate in a more modern chemical sense.
Its synthesis through the chemical reaction of ammonia and carbon dioxide helped paved the way for the even more famous (rather, infamous) Habor-Bosh mechanism, which allowed for the production of the fertile and explosive ~Ammonia~ through atmospherically available nitrogen fixation and hydrogenation, patented by Haber and commercialized by Bosch which now produces ~60% of the worlds ammonia supply used in agriculture, essential for feeding the ever growing population. Reaction below.
N2 (g) +3H2 (g) ⇔2NH3 (g)
This discovery, highly double edged, proved incredibly infamous as you likely know, because it led to the proliferation of chemical weaponry like poisonous chlorine gas, as well as the essential nutrients of agriculture.
HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN SMELLING SALTS (2 METHODS)
AT ANY RATE, this brings us forward to the main course of HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN SMELLING SALTS - AMMONIUM CARBONATE - HEAVENLY EAGLE - SAL AMMONIAC ETC ETC ETC.
We have established thus far that Smelling Salts are composed of Ammonium Carbonate. The relative simplicity and natural and synthetic abundance of these two compounds make this simple remedy one easily enough to produce.
We simply need:
- Ammonia
- Carbonate
- A reaction vessel
- Collection flask
Now of course, you can always do thIs the alchemical way, by dry distilling the hooves and antlers of red hart deer, then redistilling the oils produced from that distillation to obtain spirit of hartshorn aka aqueous calcium carbonate, at which point you can slowly evaporate to crystallize the ammonia carbonate out. You also may be cheap and just buy some smelling salts online or ammonium carbonate leavening agent (for bakers) but theres no fun in that. And further assuming you do want to have fun but, you either A. don't have access to Harts, or B. wish to do things without interfering so much with living animals... heres what you'll need to do.
First Method
Firstly, there are various readily available sources of Ammonia in america, most easily, aqueous cleaning ammonia hydroxide for the price of about two dollars per gallon at your local walmart. I recommend this because producing prue ammonia can be a hassle.
Secondly we need some carbonate, which is thankfully abundant. Natural sources include eggshells, oyster shells, limestone, chalk, marble, and some others.
To produce ammonium carbonate from calcium carbonate (obtained from natural sources) and ammonia:
- Firstly clean the starting material then obliterate the calcium carbonate source into fine pieces to maximize surface area
- Combine Aqueous Ammonia (NH₄OH) with the calcium carbonate material
- The reaction will readily occur at ambient temperature and pressure as:
CaCO₃ (s)+2NH₄OH (aq) → (NH₄)₂CO₃ (aq)+Ca(OH)₂ (aq)
*In this reaction, ammonium carbonate ((NH₄)₂CO₃) is formed along with calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)₂), which is mostly insoluble in water.
- Add distilled water to separate the CaOH and NH4CO3
- Filter the mixture to separate the insoluble calcium hydroxide from the ammonium carbonate aqueous solution.
- Lastly, slowly evaporate the water from the solution to concentrate the ammonium carbonate into solid form
Note* Calcium Hydroxide is very slightly soluble in water, so purity willbeaffected,though this is an efficeint and rapid method of producing concentrated ammonium carbonate. Impurities will no discernible effect on application of finalized smelling salts.
Second Method
Smelling salts may also be made by reacting baking soda (Sodium Bicarbonate) with aqueous Ammonia as follows:
To prepare ammonium carbonate from baking soda (sodium bicarbonate, NaHCO₃) and ammonia (NH₄OH), the process involves first producing ammonium bicarbonate (NH₄HCO₃), which can then convert into ammonium carbonate.
Steps for Preparation:
1. React Baking Soda with Aqueous Ammonia:
- Add aqueous ammonia (NH₄OH) to a baking soda (NaHCO₃) solution in water.
- The reaction produces ammonium bicarbonate (NH₄HCO₃) in solution:
NaHCO₃ (aq)+NH₄OH (aq) → NH₄HCO₃ (aq)
- This reaction is quite straightforward, and you'll see the ammonia react with the bicarbonate ion to form ammonium bicarbonate, which dissolves in the water.
2. Convert Ammonium Bicarbonate to Ammonium Carbonate:
- The next step is to decompose ammonium bicarbonate into ammonium carbonate. This can happen through gentle heating or by allowing ammonium bicarbonate to decompose naturally over time (it slowly releases CO₂ at room temperature).
- The decomposition reaction is:
NH₄HCO₃ (aq) → (NH₄)₂CO₃ (aq)+CO₂ (g)+H₂O (l)
As ammonium bicarbonate decomposes, it produces ammonium carbonate along with carbon dioxide and water.
3. Evaporate and Precipitate:
- Ammonium carbonate is a volatile compound and will easily sublime under heat. If you want to isolate it as a solid, you'll need to evaporate the water very gently.
- As the water evaporates slowly, you will see the formation of ammonium carbonate crystals, but be cautious because ammonium carbonate can decompose quickly, releasing ammonia gas and carbon dioxide.
