St. Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1845-1863, 1853-01-06

AMMoNrA-How 1T IsPRoDUceD.

sAMMONfA-HOW 1T ISPRODUCED
This substance is placed by agricultu.
ral chemists at the head Of ell fenilirsrs.
Guano derives It's chief value ftorrrits
?rese?ce. ne il .co1.a.Ss oser so per e.a,
OF It. Could 1t be ob,aiaed cheap in the
state Of salt, like the nuriate (saI am.
moniac) o valuable and cheap substitute
for guano could be made srtifcially. Blu,
il is dear substitute, and farmers can.
not afford TO buy il. There appears,
however, TO be some pro.pec, Of Obtaining
a cheap supply, as il is stated that Prof
Gale, OF the Patent Office, has recently
received some crude sal -slmonia. brought
from the Chincha Islands (wherher
the Peruvian valley or not we
cannot say which has recently been dis,
covered in vein like that ofme;allc ore,
and in quantities sufficient to render it an
article of commerce. Ammonia is q
compound of two gases, viz. nitrogen and
hydrogen. They DO not combine direct.
ly in their gaseous state, but If q great
number Of electric sparks be passed
through q mixture Of them, especially If
acid vapors are present, q combination
takes place. and third body-ammonia
mis- is formed. Il, is always found in
The rains Of thunder storms, hence i, is
concluded that The lightning is an active
agent in its formaiion-it 10 the marrying
minister.-These two gases, however,
readily combine in q -nascen, state a
piece Of iron rusting in the air is almost
constantly giving rise to a small portion
OF ammonia. The moisture which covers
the iron dissolvss the atmospheric air the
oxygen of this air uniles with the iron 10
form the rust-oxide-and the pelIicle of
oxide constitutes with the metal a voltaic
elensna strong ssaoogh 10 deconPose wa
ter. The oxygen thus Get at liberty unites
with a new quantity Of iron, and The mas.
cent hydrogen of the water finding nitro
gen in solution in the moisture, unites
i, and forms ammona.
Animal matters burned under exclu.
sion from the air, give of a considerable
quantity Of the carbonate OF ammonia.
This 10 dissolved in hydrocholic acid, and
produces the sal. ammoniac OF commerce
Ammonia is obtained in q gaseous form
by mixing powdered sal ammoniac with
abou, an equal quantity of dry Stacked
lime, and healing it in q retort having a
ben, tube. The gas is abundantly dis.
charged, and may be collected in the
common way over mercury in 4 trough.
Ammonia is q colorless gas Of a very
Pungent odor, causing tears TO flow freely.
1t is q powerful alkali, and neu,ralizes
strong acids, such as sui phuric, &c.-Tn
water it is very soluble, and being mixed
with it, is called aqua-ammonis. Under
O pressure of five a,mospheres, it becomes
liquid it extinguishes the light of can,
die, and does not burn under ordinary
circumstances; ifbrea,hed undiluted it is
fa;a! to life. |, is very volatile as q H..
quid, and is employed to give that pun.
gent odor to what are called smelling
salts. The producing Of tears, which is
a peculiarly Of onions, 10 attributable to
ammonia. In the destructive distillation
Of hituminous coal in making gas, q
quantity is produced which has all to be
removed, for it detrac,s from its illumina.
ting properties. This is done by water
cooler, Q vessel through which the gas
passes before it goes into the retaining
tanks and pipes for distribution. It would
be well for agricultural chemists TO de.
vote their attention to the artificial pro.
duction Of q cheap amnoniacal salt, a.
the Lobos Islands are not ye, free proper.
~ for ell the world. Scientific Amer.