Red Orpiment

Primarily produced in the Chinese provinces of Guizhou, Hunan, Hubei.

Monoclinic, single crystal is thin and small cylindrical, needle-like, but rare to see; often dense granular or lump-shaped. Orange-red, streak mark is pale orange-red. Diamond-like luster, fractured surface has resin-like luster. Hardness is 1.5~2, density is 3.5~3.6g/cm 3 . Brittle texture, low melting point. When heated with charcoal, it produces white smoke that smells like garlic. When exposed to the sun, it turns into yellow ci huang (As 2 S 3 ) and Arsenite, does not dissolve in water and hydrochloric acid, can be dissolved in nitric acid, yellow solution.

Superior medicinal material is large, red, loose and brittle.

Acrid, warm, toxic.

Resolves toxin, kills worms, dries dampness, transforms phlegm, interrupts malaria. Apply to swelling abscess and sore, snake and insect bites, worm accumulation and abdominal pain, convulsion, malaria.