1910–1911
Britannica 11th
Encyclopaedia Britannica · 11th edition
ARSENIC (symbol As, atomic weight 75-0), a chemical element, known to the ancients in the form of its sulphides. Aristotle gave them the name aa.v5apa.Kii, and Theophrastus mentions them under the name apotviKov. The oxide known as white arsenic is mentioned by the Greek alchemist Olympiodorus, who obtained it by roasting arsenic sulphide. These substances were all known to the later alchemists, who used minerals containing arsenic in order to give a white colour to copper. Albertus Magnus was the first to state th…
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- Vol. 2, pp. 651-654