Arsenicum sublimatum (an arsenical ore consisting principally of arsenic trioxide, As2O3; the sublimed and purified form is 砒霜, and the red sulfide-bearing form is 红砒)
Nature and flavour. Acrid, very hot; classed as extremely toxic. Lung and Liver systems.
The most dangerous article in this library, and an honest entry has to begin by saying so. It is an arsenical ore whose active principle is arsenic trioxide. Classical texts describe it as eating away putrefaction and killing parasites, and it is recorded externally for scabies and lice, for warts, and for destroying dead tissue in obstinate sores and in the tooth decay of the traditional account of 牙疳; internally, in very small quantities, it is recorded for the asthma and the recurrent fever of the traditional account. Those internal uses are historical. Two facts deserve to be set beside them. Arsenic trioxide was the poison of choice for centuries, and the Marsh test for detecting it, developed in 1836, is part of the prehistory of forensic toxicology. And arsenic trioxide is also a modern pharmaceutical: a manufactured injectable preparation of it is used under hospital supervision for one specific blood cancer, acute promyelocytic leukaemia. That is a hospital drug given to a diagnosed patient, not this mineral, and it is mentioned here only so the two are not confused.
性味归经。辛，大热；有剧毒。归肺、肝经。
本知识库中最危险的一件物品，诚实的条目必须开宗明义。它是砷矿，有效成分是三氧化二砷。古籍记载蚀疮去腐、杀虫，外用治疥疮、虱、疣赘，以及顽固疮疡与传统所论牙疳中的腐肉；内服以极小量记载，用于传统所论的哮喘与往来寒热。这些内服用途属于历史。有两个事实值得并列在旁。砒霜是数百年间最常用的毒物，1836 年建立的马什氏检砷法是法医毒理学的史前篇章之一。同时，三氧化二砷也是一味现代药物：其注射制剂在医院监护下用于一种特定的血液癌症 —— 急性早幼粒细胞白血病。那是用于已确诊患者的医院用药，不是这块矿石；此处提及只是为避免两者混淆。
极毒，且有蓄积性。本页对任何用途都不写份量，因为这种物质不存在可以由个人自行决定的量。急性中毒表现为口腔与咽喉烧灼、剧烈呕吐、腹痛与大量水样腹泻，继而虚脱、心律紊乱伴 QT 间期延长与肾衰竭；慢性暴露导致皮肤色素沉着夹杂白斑、掌跖角化增厚、肢体麻木无力、贫血、肝损害，以及 —— 这是已确立而非可疑的 —— 皮肤、肺、膀胱与肝的癌症，砷化物因此被列为对人类致癌。治疗是在医院进行的螯合疗法，而治疗确实存在，这也是及早就医而非等待的又一个理由。任何形式都绝不作自用，绝不内服。绝不可加热：砷矿受热散发蒸气，三氧化二砷会挥发。须远离任何备餐场所，远离儿童、动物与水源。任何可疑接触都是急症 —— 立刻联系中毒救治机构或前往急诊。