28 ARSENIOUS ACID. 



xene. The fibres are large and easily se- 

 parated by the fingers ; when rubbed in' a 

 mortar, the powder, which is yellowish - 

 brown, and rather darker than yelloAv-ochre, 

 adheres to the pestle. Lustre silky. H. 

 1 to 2. S.G. 3-52 to 3-88. 



Comp. 6a6 As + 4 ^-e3 As + 15 H, or ar- 

 senic 37-86, peroxide of iron 42-14, lime 

 11-11, water 8-8y = 100. 

 Analysis \>y Dufrenoy : 



Arsenic acid . . . 34-26 

 Peroxide of iron . .41-31 



Peroxide of manganese . 1.29 



Lime 8-43 



Potash . . . .0-76 



Silica 4-04 



Water .... 8-75 



98-84 

 BB fuses to a black enamel, and gives ofi" a 

 slight odour of arsenic on adding soda. 



Dissolves readily in hot nitric or muriatic 

 acid. 



This mineral seems to vary much in con- 

 stitution ; it occurs in a manganese bed at 

 Eomaneche (Dep. Saone et Loire), in France. 



Arsenious Acid. See Arsenolite. 



Arsenite, Haidiyiger, Brooke §• 3Iiller, 

 Greg §• Lettsom, Nicol. See Arsenolite. 



Arseniuret of Manganese, Kane, 

 Phillips. See Kaneite. 



Arsenocrocite. See Arseniosiderite. 



Arsenolite, Dana. White arsenic, or 

 arsenious acid, is formed from the decompo- 

 sition of other ores, and (when pure) is com- 

 posed of arsenic G5-76, oxygen 24-24. It 

 occurs either in minute radiating capillary 

 crystals and crusts investing other minerals, 

 or in a stalactitic or botryoidal form. It is 

 white, sometimes with a yellowish or red- 

 dish tinge, and has a silky or vitreous 

 lustre. It possesses an astringent and 

 sweetish taste, and is highly poisonous. 

 H. 1-5. S.G. 3-69. 



BB volatilizes in white fumes ; in the inner 

 flame blackens and gives otf an alliaceous 

 odour. It differs from Pharmacolite in be- 

 ing slightly soluble in hot water. 



Localities. Huel Sparnon, in Cornwall, 

 in acicular crystals, filling cavities in Ar- 

 senical Cobalt ; Andreasberg, in the Harz ; 

 Bohemia; Hungary; Hanau. 



In an interesting paper on the arsenic- 

 eaters of Styria, by Charles Heisch, F.C S., 

 in the Pharmaceutical Journal, it is stated 

 that "Arsenic is commonly taken by the 

 peasants in Styria, the Tyrol, and the 

 Salz Kammergut, principally by huntsmen 

 and woodcutters, to improve their wind and 



ASBESTOS, 

 prevent fatigue. Th"e following particulars 

 in reference to this subject were communi- 

 cated to Mr, Heisch by Dr. Lorenz, Imperial 

 Professor of Natural History, formerly of 

 Salzburg : — ' The arsenic is taken pure in 

 some warm liquid, as coffee, fasting, begin- 

 ning with a bit the size of a pin's head, and 

 increasing to that of a pea. The com- 

 plexion and general appearance are much 

 improved, and the parties using it seldom 

 look so old as they really are, but he 

 has never heard of any case in which it -was 

 used to improve personal beauty, though he 

 cannot say that it never is so used. The 

 first dose is ahvays followed by slight sym- 

 ptoms of poisoning, such as burning pain in 

 the stomach, and sickness, but not very 

 severe. Once begun, it can only be left off 

 by very gradually diminishing the daily 

 dose, as a sudden cessation causes sickness, 

 burning pain in the stomach, and other 

 symptoms of poisoning, very speedily fol- 

 lowed by death. As a rule, arsenic-eaters 

 are very long lived, and are peculiarly ex- 

 empt from infectious diseases, fevers, &c., 

 but unless they gradually give up the prac- 

 tice, invariably die suddenly at last. In 

 some arsenic works near Salzburg with 

 Avhich he is acquainted, he says the only 

 men who can stand the work for any time 

 are those who swallow daily doses of arsenic, 

 the fumes, &c., soon killing the others.' " 



Brit. Mus., Case 56. 



31. P. G. Table-case 14, on principal floor. 



Arsenopyrite, Glocker. See Mispickel. 



Aksenous Acid. See Arsenolite. 



Arsenphyllite, Breithaupt. A mineral 

 similar in composition to Arsenolite, but 

 homoeomorphous with Valentinite. 



Aesen-sllbee Blende, Breithaupt. See 

 Proustitb. 



Asbest, Werner. Asbeste, Haiiy, Bra- 

 chant. See Asbestos. 



Asbeste Ligniforme, Haiiy. See Rock 

 Wood. 



Asbestos, Asbestus, Kirwan, Dana, 

 Phillips, Nicol. A hornblendic mineral : a 

 fibrous variety of Actinolite or Tremolite. In 

 the process of decomposition, these minerals 

 assume a i)aler colour, and separate into 

 fibres, which are sometimes as fine as those 

 of flax. When heated to redness all ex- 

 traneous matter is destroyed, while the 

 fibres themselves remain uninjured. In that 

 form it may be woven into cloth, which, 

 from its incombustibility, has been employed 

 for various purposes. By the ancients it 

 was used to wTap up the bodies of the dead 

 before placing them on the funeral pile, by 

 which means the ashes and unconsumed 



