Smelling salts, also known as ammonia inhalants, spirit of hartshorn or sal volatile, are chemical compounds used as stimulants to restore consciousness after fainting.
Two capsules of smelling salts from a first-aid kit. A thin inner glass tube contains alcohol and ammonia; the outer layer is cotton and netting. When crushed, the liquid is released into the cotton, while the glass shards are retained inside. The ammonia-soaked cotton is waved in front of the nose for the treatment of fainting.
Flask with smelling salts, used for reviving dental patients after a procedure. French, 18th century.
Rembrandt's Unconscious Patient (Allegory of Smell) shows a woman using smelling salts to revive a man who has fainted at the hands of a barber-surgeon.
Ammonium carbonate is a salt with the chemical formula (NH4)2CO3. Since it readily degrades to gaseous ammonia and carbon dioxide upon heating, it is used as a leavening agent and also as smelling salt. It is also known as baker's ammonia and is a predecessor to the more modern leavening agents baking soda and baking powder. It is a component of what was formerly known as sal volatile and salt of hartshorn, and produces a pungent smell when baked. It comes in the form of a white powder or block, with a molar mass of 96.09 g/mol and a density of 1.50 g/cm3. It is a strong electrolyte.
Ammonium carbonate
