Arsenic compounds have been known for at least 5000 years, and the ancient Greek Theophrastus recognized the arsenic minerals called realgar and orpiment.
12.
Some arsenic exists in elemental form, but most arsenic is found in the arsenic minerals orpiment, realgar, arsenopyrite, and enargite.
13.
It was once thought that this powder was the yellow sulfide orpiment, but has been recently shown to be a distinct chemical compound.
14.
Realgar was, along with orpiment, a significant item of trade in the ancient Roman Empire and was used as a red paint pigment.
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Associated minerals include stibnite, realgar, orpiment, cinnabar, vrbaite, greigite, marcasite, pyrite, tetrahedrite, antimonian sphalerite, arsenic and barite.
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The Chinese name for realgar is " xionghuang " ĖÞ, literally'masculine yellow', as opposed to orpiment which was'feminine yellow '.
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For centuries, orpiment was ground down and used as a pigment in painting and for sealing wax, and is even used in Ancient China as a correction fluid.
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John was then made quicksilver, sal ammoniac, alum, litharge, orpiment, saltpetre, silver, sugar, sulphur, tin, verdigris, vinegar and white lead.
19.
The Egyptians used yellow ochre extensively in tomb painting, though occasionally they used orpiment, which made a brilliant color but was highly toxic, since it was made with arsenic.
20.
Orpiment, as the Latin " Auripigmentum ", is mentioned by Robert Hooke in " Micrographia " for the manufacture of small shot in the 17th century.
