Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/94

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ARSACIDÆ.
78
ARSENIC.

ria, was at war with Egypt, and was unable to recover this portion of his dominions. Seleucus, the son of Antiochus, made two unsuccessful expeditions against Arsaces, in the last of which he was taken prisoner. Arsaces I. now acquired regal power, built a city called Dara, on the mountain Zapaortenon, developed the internal resources of his new kingdom, and endeavored to organize it; and, after the conquest of several countries, died at a great age. Such, at least, is the account given by Posidonius and other writers. Arrian, however, states that Arsaces died after a reign of two years, and that his brother Tiridates succeeded him, under the name of Arsaces II., and ruled for 37 years. From this we should infer that many of the acts attributed to the founder of the Parthian kingdom were the work of his successor.

Arsaces VI., or Mithridates I., flourished about the middle of the Second Century B.C. He enlarged the territories of the Parthians by the conquest of Bactria, and is even supposed to have penetrated into India, and subdued the nations between the Hydaspes and Indus. In the year B.C. 138 he defeated and took prisoner Demetrius Nieator, King of Syria, whom, however, he treated generously, bestowing on him his daughter in marriage. He was a just and merciful prince.


ARS AMATOR'IA, ARS AMAN'DI, or ARS AMO'RIS, A famous work of Ovid, giving a set of rules for the conduct of love affairs. Of the three books, two are addressed to men; the third, to women.


AR'SENAL (Fr., Sp., Portug., arsenal, dock- yard; It. arsenale, arzana, arzanale, arsenal, dockyard; cf. It. darsena, Sp. dársena, Portug. taracena, dock, and Sp. atarazana(l), dock, all from Ar. dar iirritifi'dh, workshop, factory, from ddr, house + al, the + cina'ah, art, mechanical industry). An establishment for the manufac- ture, repair, and storage of arms, ships, or muni- tions of war. In the United States the term is commonly applied to an establishment designed for the manufacture and storage of arms and mu- nitions of war for the land forces; there are sev- eral naval arsenals, but these are merely store- houses for ammunition. In England the term has nearly the same signification. On the Conti- nent of Europe the original meaning of the term is preserved, and, while there are many arsenals designed solely for the supply of the land forces, the great naval arsenals of Brest, Cherbourg, Toulon, Naples, Spezia, Venice, etc., are establish- ments in which ships are built, repaired, and fit- ted out, and in which equipments and naval stores are manufactured. The manufacture of guns is now generally carried on in gun-factories and small-arms factories (see Ordnance). Some of the non-explosive parts of ammunition are manu- factured at the general arsenals, but the work of preparing explosives, and of filling cartridges and explosive shells, is commonly done at special arsenals or establishments at safe distances from centres of industry and population; and large quantities of ammunition are no longer stored in arsenals chiefly devoted to general military or naval industries. In the United States and in England the term navy yard (q.v.) corresponds almost exactly to that of naval arsenal on the Continent, the same class of work being carried on in each. A very large proportion of the muni-

tions of war are now made in private works; and this, together with the desirability of specializing manufactures, has led to a reduction of the scope of work carried on in arsenals.

The first regular manufacture of war materials in the United States was in 1776, when gunpowder was made for the Continental forces; and in 1777 Springfield was chosen by General Washington as a suitable place for an arsenal. The manufacture of small arms commenced there in 1787, and has since continued. Harper's Ferry Arsenal dates from 1795, from which time other arsenals were gradually built, until the list of arsenals, armories, and ordnance depots under the control of the United States War Department in 1901 comprised the following establishments: Allegheny Arsenal, Pittsburg, Pa.; Augusta Arsenal, Augusta, Ga.; Benicia Arsenal, Benicia, Cal.; Columbia Arsenal, Columbia, Tenn.; Fort Monroe Arsenal, Fort Monroe, Va.; Frankford Arsenal, Philadelphia, Pa.; Indianapolis Arsenal, Indianapolis, Ind.; Kennebec Arsenal, Augusta, Maine; New York Arsenal, Governor's Island, New York City; Rock Island Arsenal, Rock Island, Ill.; Saint Louis Powder Depot, Jefferson Barracks, Mo.; Sandy Hook Proving Ground, Sandy Hook, N. J.; San Antonio Arsenal, San Antonio, Tex.; Springfield Armory, Springfield, Mass.; United States Powder Depot, Dover, N. J.; Watertown Arsenal, Watertown, Mass.; Watervliet Arsenal, Watervliet, N. Y.


AR'SENIC (Gk. Ἀρσενικόν, arsenikon, yellow orpiment, from ἀρσην, arsēn, male, masculine; alluding to its strong properties). A chemical element that was known to the ancients. It was distinctly referred to as early as 1694 by Schröder. It is found widely distributed in nature, though in small amounts. It is often found in the form of mammillated or kidney-shaped masses, but occurs also in well-crystallized form. It is found chiefly in the older rocks or in schists associated with other metallic minerals. The principal European localities are: Andreasberg, in the Harz Mountains; Joachimsthal, in Bohemia, and Freiberg, in Saxony. It is also abundant in Chile, Mexico, and New Zealand. In the United States it is found in Haverhill and Jackson, N. H.; Greenwood, Maine, and Leadville, Colo. In combination with sulphur, arsenic occurs as realgar and as orpiment, and with sulphur and iron as löllingite and as arsenopyrite or mispickel, called also arsenical pyrites. It is a common constituent of other minerals, but in small quantities only. The arsenopyrite is the usual commercial ore from which arsenic is obtained, and the process for its reduction is by heating the ore in earthenware retorts or tubes laid horizontally in a long furnace. As arsenic is quite volatile on heating, it condenses in the iron tube as a coherent crystalline mass, in which condition it may be detached from the tube when the latter is unrolled. The arsenic thus obtained may be still further purified by a second sublimation.

Arsenic (symbol As, at. wgt. 75.01) is a steel-gray, brittle metal, with a specific gravity of 5.23 to 5.76; it is a good conductor of electricity, and is odorless and tasteless. It volatilizes above 100° C., with a garlic-like odor, and is rapidly vaporized at a dull-red heat. It is used as a constituent of alloys, as white alloy,