View Full Version : Just how -- exactly -- Do smelling salts wake you up?

12-14-1999, 05:37 PM
Subject says it all.

Follow-up There's no salt in it, is there?

Thanks :)

12-14-1999, 05:41 PM
smelling salts noun plural but singular or plural in construction (1840)
: a usu. scented aromatic preparation of ammonium carbonate and ammonia water used as a stimulant and restorative

You ever breathe ammonia?

12-14-1999, 07:25 PM
Sure, there's no Halite (common salt) in there, but there are probably "salts". A salt is a generic chemical term for any product of the reaction between an acid and a base, where the cation of the base (Na+, K+, NH4+, Ca++, etc.) replaces the Hydrogen (H+) of the acid. (They also tend to have ionic bonds, which contributes to their softness and solubility.)

Ammonia Sulfate (NH4SO4), Ammonia Chloride (NH4Cl), and a cast of thousands can all claim the name "salt" just as legitimately as Sodium Chloride.

12-14-1999, 09:19 PM
I imagine you've never gotten a decent whiff of the stuff. Whoo-boy, they'll perk you right up.

For an equivalent effect, buy a few horseradish roots from a grocey store. Bring them home and put 'em in a food processor. When they're ground to a paste, take the top off of the processor, lean in and take a snort.

After you land, you'll see what I mean.

12-14-1999, 10:27 PM
Doctor! Doctor!

The fumes must [u]do</d> something - how about constricting those blood vessels in the nose? Or is just the opposite? What happens when you faint - blood vessels dila- no, here's the deal:

Action: Irritates the sensory receptors in the nasal membranes, producing reflex stimulation of the respiratory centers.
Nursing 1999 Drug Handbook, pp 1175

Well, that didn't help me too much, but it does answer the op; that's exactly what it does.

Oh, I'm gonna keep using these #%@&* codes 'til I get 'em right.

12-14-1999, 11:14 PM
Isn't that annoying to read.


Kamino Neko
12-15-1999, 01:10 AM
Well, Jois, at least it makes your .sig appropriate. :)

Eschew Obfuscation