It's a scene out of countless romance novels and prestige period pieces,

and elegantly dressed Victorian lady laced too tightly in her corset is suddenly overcome by a case of the vapors and swoons,

collapsing into convenient fainting couch designed for just this purpose.

Immediately a servant or dashing doctor rushes to her side, uncorks a small bottle of smelling salts, and

holds it under her nose. She gasps, springs back to consciousness, and all is well.

Of course, most of this scenario is pure fiction. Contrary to popular depictions, the corset

was not some diabolical patriarchal torture device that caused women to faint constantly.

Indeed, working women regularly wore them

in the fields and factories while the so-called fainting couches were nothing of the sort

merely ordinary day beds for loungen. But smelling salts were a real thing used for centuries

to rouse both men and women from fainting spells. Indeed, they remain popular to this day among many professional

athletes. But just what are smelling salts, who invented them, how do they work, and are they safe

to use? Well, lace up your corset, position your couch accordingly, and prepare to be shocked

into unconsciousness as we dive into what exactly are smelling salts and how do they work?

To begin with, the most common compound used in smelling salts is ammonium chloride or ammonium carbonate,

both traditionally known as salammoniac.

In nature, this is typically found around geothermal features like volcanoes and fumaroles,

where it's formed from ammonia vapors emerging from the Earth's crust,

or in other ammonia-rich

areas like large deposits of bird or bat guano.

An aquilus solution known as Aquila Coelestis was also produced by a distillation of deer antlers,

hence the alternative name of Spirit of Heartshorn.

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