Hartshorn 648958 214660451 2008-05-24T17:27:34Z Cacycle 83784 copyedit [[Image:Silz cerf22.jpg|thumb|250px|Male red deer.]]'''Harts' horns''', are the horns of the male [[red deer]]. Various substances were made from the shavings of the animals' horns. The '''oil of hartshorn''' is a crude animal oil obtained from the destructive distillation of the deers' bones or horns. The '''salt of hartshorn''' actually refers to two distinct substances, ''sal ammoniac'' ([[ammonium chloride]]), and [[ammonium carbonate]], which have been obtained from oil of hartshorn by dry distillation. The '''spirit of hartshorn''' is an aqueous solution of [[ammonia]]. The solution was manufactured from the hooves and horns of the red deer, as well as some other animals. The aqueous solution was a colorless and pungent, consisting of about 28.5 percent ammonia gas. It was used chiefly as a [[detergent]], for removing stains and extracting certain vegetable coloring agents, and in the manufacture of ammonium salts. == Use in medicine == '''Hartshorn jelly''' or a decoction of burnt hartshorn in water was used to treat [[diarrhoea]]. The coal of hartshorn, called '''[[calcination|calcinated]] hartshorn''', was used as an absorbent, as well as in the treatment of dysentery. ''Salt of hartshorn'' ([[ammonium carbonate]]) was used as a [[wikt:sudorific|sudorific]] for treatment of fevers, and as a [[smelling salt]].<ref> {{Citation | last = Willich | first = A. F. M. | title = Harts' Horns | encyclopedia = Domestic Encyclopedia Or A Dictionary Of Facts, And Useful Knowledge | volume = 2 | publisher = B. McMillan | year = 1802 }} </ref> Hartshorn was used to treat insect bites,<ref> {{Citation | last = Brown | first = Dr. O. Phelps | title = Venomous Insects. Tarantula, Scorpion, Hornet, Wasp, Bee, Gnat, Gad-Fly | encyclopedia = The Complete Herbalist | publisher = Dr. O. Phelps Brown | year = 1878 }} </ref>, sunstroke<ref> {{Citation | last = Brown | first = Dr. O. Phelps | title = Sunstroke | encyclopedia = The Complete Herbalist | publisher = Dr. O. Phelps Brown | year = 1878 }} </ref>, [[stye]]<ref> {{Citation | last = Brown | first = Dr. O. Phelps | title = Stye (Hordeolum) | encyclopedia = The Complete Herbalist | publisher = Dr. O. Phelps Brown | year = 1878 }} </ref>, and snakebites<ref> {{Citation | last = Brown | first = Dr. O. Phelps | title = Animal Poisons: Fish and Serpents | encyclopedia = The Complete Herbalist | publisher = Dr. O. Phelps Brown | year = 1878 }} </ref> == Use in baking == ''Hartshorn salt'' (ammonium carbonate), also known simply as ''hartshorn'', and ''baker's ammonia'', was used as a [[leavening agent]], in the baking of cookies and other edible treats. It was used mainly in the 17th and 18th centuries as a forerunner of [[baking powder]]<ref> {{cite book | title=Oxford Companion to Food | last=Davidson | first=Alan | authorlink=Alan Davidson (food writer) | publisher=Oxford University Press | location=Oxford |year=1999 | pages=372}} </ref>. ½ teaspoon of hartshorn equals to 1 teaspoon of baking powder. It is called for in old German and Scandinavian recipes and, though rarely used in modern times, may still be purchased as a baking ingredient.<ref> Baker's Ammonia for sale by King Arthur Flour ($8.99 for 2.7oz): {{citation | url=http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/landing.jsp?term=bakers+ammonia&go=DefaultSearch | accessdate=2008-05-05 }} </ref> Use of hartshorn may turn some ingredients, such as sunflower seeds, green. Ammonium carbonate is especially suited to thin, dry cookies. When heated it releases ammonia and carbon dioxide gases, but no water. The lack of water allows the cookies to cook and dry out faster, and thinner cookies allows the pungent ammonia to be completely baked out, rather than remaining behind, as it would in a thicker mass. Other than the pungent ammonia smell that is produced when baking with ammonium carbonate, and the possibility of an slight ammonia flavour remaining in the baking, is that the ammonia released during the baking process reacts with glucose and fructose to form intermediate molecules which in turn react with [[asparagine]] (found in nuts, seeds, and grains) to form [[acrylamide]], a [[carcinogen]].<ref> {{Citation | last = Amrein | first = Thomas M. | last2 = Schönbächler | first2 = Barbara | last3 = Escher | first3 = Felix | last4 = Amadò | first4 = Thomas M. | title = Acrylamide in gingerbread: critical factors for formation and possible ways for reduction | journal = Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry | volume = 52 | pages = 4282-88 | date = 2004 | year = 2004 }} </ref><ref> {{Citation | last = Amrein | first = Thomas M. | last2 = Andres | first2 = Luca | last3 = Manzardo | first3 = Giuseppe G. G | last4 = Amadò | first4 = Renato | title = Investigations on the promoting effect of ammonium hydrogencarbonate on the formation of acrylamide in model systems | journal = Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry | volume = 54 | pages = 10253-61 | date = 2006 | year = 2004 }}</ref> [[Category:Traditional medicine]] == References == <references/> {{pharma-stub}}