Smelling salts

Smelling salts, also known as ammonia inhalants, spirit of hartshorn, or sal volatile, are chemical compounds used as stimulants to restore consciousness after fainting.

[6] They are also used as a form of stimulant in athletic competitions (such as powerlifting, strong man, rugby and ice hockey) to "wake up" competitors to perform better.

[1] They were widely used in Victorian Britain to revive fainting women, and in some areas, constables would carry a container of them for that purpose.

[10] At that time, smelling salts were commonly dissolved with perfume in vinegar or alcohol and soaked onto a sponge, which was then carried on the person in a decorative container called a vinaigrette.

[7] Fainting can be caused by excessive parasympathetic and vagal activity that slows the heart and decreases perfusion of the brain.

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 .