Formula: As

Species: Native Elements

Colour: Tin-white, tarnishing to dark grey or black.

Lustre: Metallic, Sub-Metallic, Dull

Hardness: 3½

Specific Gravity: 5.63 – 5.78

Crystal System: Trigonal

Member of: Arsenic Group

Name: Name of early origins from the Greek αρσενικόν (“arsenikon”), “masculine”, alluding to its potent properties. The Oxford English Dictionary lists the first record of the word “arsenic” in a 1310 book concerning orpiment.

Polymorph of: Arsenolamprite, Pararsenolamprite A metallic, steel-gray to dark-gray, brittle element. Oxidises slowly in air and is then covered with a thin crust of tiny arsenolite crystals. Arsenic and its compounds are poisonous.