Thought everyone would be
interested in this reference to arsenic and printing.
William Crookes, “A Practical Handbook of Dyeing and Calico Printing” Longmans, Breen, and Co., London: 1874. p.545
Crookes writes, “Arsenious acid occurs in a great number of printing receipts, its function being often very doubtful. In some cases it plays the part of an alterant rather than of true mordant. Arsenite of soda mixed with the acetate of alumina is employed as a mordant for printing aniline colors upon cotton. Arsenious acid, boiled with decoctions of the woods, fixes a variety of browns upon cotton and woolens, which are, however, more curious than practically important. The poisonous nature of the arsenical compounds undoubtedly tens to restrict their tinctorial applications.