Arsenic is a metallic element found in nature at low levels mostly in compounds with oxygen, chlorine and sulphur. Three compounds of arsenic are used in Hindu medicine, namely, arsenious anhydride or white arsenic, red sulphide of arsenic or realgar and the yellow sulphide or orpiment. Of these three, orpiment and realgar have been used in medicine from a very remote period, and are indigenous to India. In the Bhavaprakasa and the Tantras, it is recommended as a powerful medicine for fever and is now much used as such.

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