"Ammonia is a colorless gas with a peculiar odor, lighter than air, and exceedingly soluble in water...The great solubility of this gas is strikingly shown by the 'ammonia fountain.' A flask is filled with dry ammonia, and incerted over water. As soon as the [restraining] clip (not shown in picture) is removed from the ruber tubing, the water rushes in as the gas rapidly dissolves." -Brownlee 1907
Brownlee, Raymond B., Fuller, Robert W., Hancock, William J., Sohon, Michael D., Whitsit, Jesee E. First Principles of Chemistry (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1907) 182