mac251
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Sal Ammoniac?
Recently I was reading an older text put on the net, and one of the chemicals listed in it was Sal Ammoniac. I was wondering if anyone had ever come
across any text mentioning this or if anyone knew what it was. The text I saw mentioning it was a repro from a 12th century text. Any help you could
give would be greatly appreciated. Or if anyone knows of any books or people on the history of Chemistry.
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kaviaari
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Sal Ammoniac is the archaic name of ammonium chloride.
[Edited on 30-6-2008 by kaviaari]
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woelen
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It is called Sel Ammoniac, and not Sal.
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kaviaari
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Most certainly not woelen, just google sel ammoniac. Google preposes sal instead of sel.
[Edited on 30-6-2008 by kaviaari]
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garryb
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Amazing, I am in a position to disagree with woelen!
In England it is certainly sal ammoniac.
No offence woelen - I greatly admire all your work and posts!
Garry.
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ScienceSquirrel
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Amazingly some people put it in sweets
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonium_chloride
If you have a pure sample just try tasting it!
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woelen
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Yes, you seem to be right. I have old German literature, which calls it sel ammoniac, and it seems that in Dutch and French literature it also is
called sel ammoniac, but in the part of the world where English is the native language it indeed seems to be sal ammoniac.
My mistake 
[Edited on 30-6-08 by woelen]
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YT2095
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I`m kinda hands up guilty in some respects that I sometimes call it by the old name myself, and many other things.
but then I`v seen Muriatic acid used in place of Hydrochloric acid on here, and as such don`t feel so bad
incl the the old names for the Elements.
[Edited on 30-6-2008 by YT2095]
\"In a world full of wonders mankind has managed to invent boredom\" - Death
Twinkies don\'t have a shelf life. They have a half-life! -Caine (a friend of mine)
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MagicJigPipe
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I have an aversion to using terms like "Muriatic" because around here those are the terms that the cooks use ("battery acid", "lye", etc.). If you
use those terms you are even more at risk of losing life, limb, and freedom in my area.
"There must be no barriers to freedom of inquiry ... There is no place for dogma in science. The scientist is free, and must be free to ask any
question, to doubt any assertion, to seek for any evidence, to correct any errors. ... We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it and
that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. And we know that as long as men are free to ask what they must, free to say what they think,
free to think what they will, freedom can never be lost, and science can never regress." -J. Robert Oppenheimer
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ScienceSquirrel
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But there are the ones that are truely evocative of a more alchemical age;
Spirits of hartshorn
Butter of tin
Flowers of sulphur
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MagicJigPipe
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You mustn't forget oil of vitriol, oleum and saltpeter.
"There must be no barriers to freedom of inquiry ... There is no place for dogma in science. The scientist is free, and must be free to ask any
question, to doubt any assertion, to seek for any evidence, to correct any errors. ... We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it and
that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. And we know that as long as men are free to ask what they must, free to say what they think,
free to think what they will, freedom can never be lost, and science can never regress." -J. Robert Oppenheimer
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ScienceSquirrel
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And there are white, blue and green vitriols as well as
Sweet Spirits of Nitre
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April_K
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Yup...."SAL" in Canada too, if you buy it as a soldering flux.
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Picric-A
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also the term 'oil of wintergreen' is still used frequently in chemists these days, (well it is where i live , norfolk)
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ScienceSquirrel
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Sodium sulphate decahydrate aka Glauber's salt
Sal mirabilis or 'miraculous salt' named for its medicinal properties.
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