154 
A R R 
ARS 
by the crown of bubbles, holds but a sixth, 
and sometimes -but an eighth, part of pure 
spirit; whereas our other spirits, when they 
snow that proof, are generally esteemed to be 
one half pure spirit. There is a paper of ob- 
servations on arrack, in the Melanges d’His- 
toire Natur. tom. v. p. 302. By fermenting, 
distilling, and rectifying the juice oi the Ame- 
rican maple, which has much the same taste 
as that of the cocoa, the author says he made 
arrack not in the least inferior to any that 
comes from the East Indies; and he thinks 
the juice of the sycamore and of the birch 
trees would equally answer the end. 
Arrack is not to be sold in Great Britain 
but in warehouses entered as directed by 6th 
of Geo. I. cap. 2 1. upon forfeiture, and casks, 
tkc. 
Arrack, tungusian, is a spirituous liquor 
made by the Tartars of Tungusia, of mare’s 
milk, left to sour, and afterwards distilled 
twice or thrice between two earthen pots 
closely stopped, whence the liquor runs 
through a small wooden pipe. It is more 
intoxicating than brandy. 
ARRAGONITE. See Mineralogy. 
ARRAIGNMENT, in law, the arraigning 
or setting a thing in order ; as a person is said 
to arraign a writ of novel disseisin, who pre- 
pares and fits it for trial. It is most properly 
used to call a person to answer in form of 
law upon an indictment, &c. at the suit of 
the king. 
ARRAY, in law, the ranking or setting 
forth bf a jury or inquest of men impannelled 
on a cause. 
ARRENTATION, in the forest-law, is 
the licensing an owner of lands in a forest, to 
inclose them with a low hedge, and a small 
ditch, in consideration of a yearly rent. 
ARREST, the apprehending and restrain- 
ing a person, in order to oblige him to be 
obedient to the law ; which in all cases, ex- 
cept treason, felony, or breach of the peace, 
must be done by virtue of a precept out of 
some court. Outer doors may' be broken 
open to arrest a felon ; but in civil cases it is 
otherwise, unless it is in pursuit of one before 
taken. 
Attorneys, &c. maliciously causing any 
person to be arrested, shall forfeit ten pounds 
and treble damages. The same penalty is 
incurred for arresting a person (except in 
criminal cases, and an escape-warrant) on 
Sundays; but arrests made in the night are 
equally lawful with those by day. 
Peers of the realm, and members of par- 
liament, may not be arrested for debt; nor 
can any other subject be arrested for less 
than 10/. on a process issued out of a supe- 
rior court, or 40s. in an inferior one. 
Arrest of judgment, the assigning just 
reasons why judgment should not pass; ns 
want of notice of the trial, a material defect 
in the pleading, when the record differs from 
the deed pleaded, when persons are mis- 
named, when more is given by the verdict 
than is laid in the declaration, &c. This 
may be done either ip criminal or civil 
cases. 
ARRESTANDIS bonis, tkc. a writ that 
lies for one whose cattle or goods are taken 
by another, who is likely to carry them away 
before the contest is decided. 
ARREST O facto super bonis, &c. a writ 
brought by a denizen against the goods of 
aliens found within, tins kingdom, as a recom- 
A R S 
ponce for goods taken from him in a foreign 
country. 
ARRHABONARIJ, a sect of Christians 
who held that the eucharist is neither the real 
flesh nor blood of Christ, nor yet the sign of 
them, but only the pledge or earnest of 
them. 
ARRHEPH ORI A, a feast among the 
Athenians, instituted in honour of Minerva, 
and Hearse daughter of Cecrops. 
ARROBA, a weight used in Spain, in Por- 
tugal, at Goa, and throughout all Spanish 
America. The arroba of Portugal is 32 Lis- 
bon lbs. of Spain 25 Spanish lbs. 
ARRQNDE'E, in heraldry, a cross, the 
arms of which are composed of sections of a 
circle : not opposite to each other, so as to 
make the arms bulge out thicker in one part 
than another ; but the sections of each arm 
lying the same way, so that the arm is every 
where of an equal thickness, and all of them 
terminating at the edge of the escutcheon like 
the plain cross. 
ARROW, in surveying, small sticks shod 
with iron, to stick into the ground at the end 
of the chain. 
Arrow, in astronomy. See Sagitta. 
ARSCH1N, in commerce, a long measure 
used in China to measure stuffs. Four ar- 
scliins make three yards of London. 
ARSENIC, one of the semi-metals, in a 
combined state, or in the state of an ore, ex- 
tremely fatal as a poison, whence its name : 
(composed ofavm, a man, and to kill.) It 
is commonly seen in the state of a calx, oxide, 
or ore, the natural colour of which is white. 
The white oxide of arsenic, or what is 
known in commerce by the name of arsenic, 
is mentioned by Avicenna in the eleventh 
century; but at what period the metal called 
arsenic was first extracted from that oxide is 
unknown. It was only in the year 1733 that 
this metal was examined with chemical pre- 
cision. This examination, which was per- 
formed by Mr. Brandt, demonstrated its pe- 
culiar nature ; and since that time it has 
always been considered as a distinct metal, 
to which the term arsenic has been appro- 
priated. 
Arsenic has a bluish-white colour not un- 
like that of steel, and a good deal of brilliancy. 
It has no sensible smell while cold, but when 
heated it emits a strong odour of garlic, which 
is very characteristic. Its specific gravity is 
S.3 1 . It is perhaps the most brittle of all the 
metals, falling to pieces under a very mode- 
rate blow of a hammer, and admitting of 
being easily reduced to a very fine powder 
in a mortar. Its fusing point is not known, 
because it is the most volatile of the metals, 
subliming without melting when exposed in 
close vessels to a heat of 540°. When sub- 
limed slowly, it crystallizes in tetrahedrons, 
which Hauy has demonstrated to be the form 
of its integrant particles. It may be kept 
under water without alteration ; but when 
exposed to the open air, it soon loses its 
lustre, becomes black, and tails into powder. 
Arsenic is capable of combining with two 
doses of oxygen, and of forming compounds. 
When exposed to a moderate heat, in con- 
tact with air, it sublimes in the form of a 
white powder, and at the same time emits a 
smell resembling garlic. If the heat is in- 
creased, it burns with an obscure bluish flame. 
Arsenic, indeed, is one of the most combus- 
tible of the metals. The substance which 
sublimes was formerly called arsenic or white 
arsenic, and is still known by these names in 
the commercial world. It is a combination 
of arsenic and oxygen ; and is now denomi- 
nated white oxijdc of arsenic, and by Four- 
croy arsenious acid, because it possesses se- 
veral of the properties of an acid. It is sel- 
dom prepared by chemists, because it exists 
native; and is often procured abundantly 
during the extraction of the other metals 
from their ores. When obtained by these 
processes, it is a white, brittle, compact sub- 
stance, of a glassy appearance. It has a sharp 
acrid taste, which at last leaves an impression 
of sweetness, and is one of the most virulent 
poisons known. It has an alliaceous smell. 
It is soluble in 80 parts of water at the tem- 
perature of 60°, and in 15 parts of boiling 
water. This solution has an acrid taste, and 
reddens vegetable blues. When it is slowly 
evaporated, the oxide crystallizes in regular 
tetrahedrons. This oxide sublimes when 
heated to 283° : if heat is applied in close 
vessels, it becomes pellucid like glass; but 
when exposed to the air, it soon recovers its 
former appearance. The specific gravity of 
this glass is 5.000; that of the oxide, in its* 
usual state, 3.706. This oxide is capable of 
combining with most of the metals, and in 
general renders them brittle. From the ex- 
periments of Proust it appears, that this ox- 
ide is composed of . . .75.2 arsenic, 
24.8 oxygen. 
100.0 _ 
Arsenic is capable of combining with an 
additional dose of oxygen, and of forming 
another compound, first discovered by 
Scheele, known by the name of arsenic 
acid. The process prescribed by Scheele 
is, to dissolve three parts of white oxide of 
arsenic in seven parts of muriatic acid, to 
add five parts of nitric acid, to put the mix- 
ture into a retort, and distil to dryness. The 
dry mass is to be merely brought to a red heat, 
and then cooled again. It is solid arsenic acid. 
Arsenic does not combine with carbon nor 
hydrogen. This last substance, however, when 
in the gaseous state, dissolves it; for when mu- 
riatic acid is boiled over arsenic, that metal is 
gradually oxidized and dissolved, and at the 
same time hydrogen gas is emitted, which has 
the smell and the poisonous qualit ies of arsenic. 
Sulphur combines readily with arsenic. If we 
put a mixture of these two bodies into a co- 
vered crucible and melt them, a red vitreous 
mass is obtained, which is obviously a sulphu- 
ret of arsenic. It may be formed also by 
heating together the white oxide of arsenic, or. 
arsenic acid and sulphur. But in that case 
a portion of the sulphur absorbs the oxygen, 
from the arsenic, and makes its escape in the 
form of sulphureous acid gas. If the white 
oxide of arsenic is dissolved in muriatic acid,- 
and a solution of sulphureted hydrogen in 
water is poured into the liquid, a fine yellow- 
coloured powder falls to the bottom. This 
powder is usually called orpiment. It may 
be formed by subliming arsenic and sulphur 
by a heat not sufficient to melt them. This 
substance is also found native. It is composed 
of thin plates, which have a considerable de- 
gree of flexibility. Its specific gravity is 
5 . 315 . 
Arsenic combines readily w ith phosphorus. 
The phosphuret of arsenic may be formed 
by distilling equal parts of its ingredients ovex 
