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Murder and Mayhem: Mathieu Orfila and the Lafarge Trial

Who was Mathieu Orfila? In 1840, Mathieu Orfila, was summoned to the Lafarge murder trial in Paris. The Marsh test had proven inconclusive due to improper handling, and prosecution sought an expert. What made Orfila different? His methods. Piece by piece, he put the case together, eliminating all other possibilities. Orfila is also credited as one of the first to use a microscope to assess stains of blood and bodily fluids. His work refined forensics as a science. Patient and meticulous, Orfila worked to make chemical analysis part of forensic medicine. He also made careful studies of asphyxiation, the decomposition of...

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Bodle and LaFarge: Sensational Arsenic Cases

Arsenic and its Discontents Despite its poisonous nature, arsenic was very easy to get a hold on in the 19th century. It could be found in many household products.  Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele mixed copper, arsenic, hydrogen, and oxygen to produce a brilliant green pigment. These pigments were used in everything from children’s toys to soap, wallpaper, fabric, and even sweets! The fabric of a lady’s green ball gown might contain 100 grains of arsenic--and it takes only 4.5 grains to kill an adult! Just as problematic were accidental uses. In 1858, 20 people died in Bradford, England,...

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Death in the Pot

Poison. It's whats for dinner. In 1820, Fredrick Accum wrote A Treatise on Adulterations of Food, and Culinary Poisons  to exhibit "the Fraudulent Sophistications of Bread, Beer, Wine, Spiritous Liquors, Tea, Coffee, Cream, Confectionery, Vinegar, Mustard, Pepper, Cheese, Olive Oil, Pickles, and Other Articles Employed in Domestic Economy." This work promoted awareness of food poisoning--and the need for food safety oversight. It was controversial at the time, because it threatened the burgeoning food processing industry. Nonetheless, as the title page suggests, there was often death in the pot. Food Processing in the 19th century In the 18th century novel Humphrey Clinker, the father...

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