Important ancient Roman chemical processes involved ammonium, especially fulling. Ammonium accumulates in decaying urine as a dilute chemical agent but is unfortunately present alongside substances which interfere with later processes, such as malodorous organic compounds and bacterial debris. This paper demonstrates how ancients may have obtained concentrated material by crystallization of ammonium salts and purification to a high degree by simple decanting, which uses only those resources available in the first century AD. It is proposed that first century Romans used decayed urine to produce the urine powder “Struvite”, a pure and concentrated form of ammonium. Possession of concentrated ammonium allows for a very wide range of chemical processes but only the very simplest example is presented in this paper; smelling salts.

中文翻译：

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古罗马尿液化学

重要的古罗马化学过程涉及铵，尤其是填充。铵作为稀释的化学试剂在腐烂的尿液中积累，但不幸的是，它与干扰后续过程的物质一起存在，例如恶臭的有机化合物和细菌碎片。这篇论文展示了古人如何通过铵盐结晶和通过简单的倾析进行高度纯化来获得浓缩的物质，这种方法只使用了公元一世纪可用的资源。据推测，公元一世纪的罗马人使用腐烂的尿液生产尿粉“鸟粪石”，这是一种纯氨浓缩形式。拥有浓铵可以进行非常广泛的化学过程，但本文只介绍了最简单的例子；闻盐。