Brass Dagger

[Marc]

Just as a clarification...
The use of arsenical copper is linked to the improvement of the mechanical properties of this alloy in front of pure copper, and it's usually related to the availability of arsenic-rich copper ore sources. Under some conditions, that include a higher percentage of As in the alloy, the object may develop a silvery-coloured surface, an effect that in some cases was desirable for aesthetics reasons. All this, at least from an historical point of view. In many places, this technology became “obsolete” with the beginning of the use of tin bronze.
Here we deal with an object which nature is tied to a particular set of cultural parameters, in which I'm afraid the mechanical properties have nothing to do with the choice of the material for the blade...
I don't know the effect in a human body of a wound with an arsenical-copper alloy object. Plus, beyond the pure biological effects, there's a lot of additional factors to be accounted for, as the proportion of arsenic in the object, the possible surface enrichment of this last element in each particular case, the aspect that such arsenic usually takes in the surface of the blade (an oxide, a sulphide, etc...), the ability of it to be dissolved in a fluid, etc... These should allow us to say if a simple cut can be dangerous (which I doubt) or if something like a good, honest stab would be needed, in which case poisoning would probably be the last of one's problems.

In short, the reasons for the use of copper/bronze/brass blades should probably better be looked for in its cultural background, not in any technological factors.

Marc