Arsenic forms colorless, odorless, crystalline oxides which are readily soluble in water to form acidic solutions. Arsenic and its compounds are poisonous. However, in nontoxic doses, arsenic acts as stimulant, and was once popular in small doses as medicinals by people in the mid 18th century.

Arsenic was known and used in Persia and elsewhere since ancient times. Due to its use by the ruling class to murder one another and its potency and discreetness, arsenic has been called the Poison of Kings and the King of Poisons. Since the symptoms of arsenic poisoning were somewhat ill-defined it was the poison of choice, until the advent of the Marsh test, a sensitive chemical test for its presence.

Arsenic is used in bronzing, pyrotechny, for hardening and improving the sphericity of shot, and used for agricultural insecticides and poisons. It is finding increasing use today as a doping agent in solid-state devices such as transistors.
The label measures 2.375” Wide x 1.4” High and is clearly marked Poison with a skull and cross bones It comes from Lewis Drug Store, a Rexall Store in Tuskegee, Alabama. Their motto was “We Deliver Promptly”. Which could be particularly handy if your motives for its use were less than moral.