Mathieu Orfila

Mathieu Joseph Bonaventure Orfila (Catalan: Mateu Josep Bonaventura Orfila i Rotger) (24 April 1787 – 12 March 1853) was a Spanish born French toxicologist and chemist, regarded as father of modern toxicology.

Birth Orfila was born in Minorca and went on to study medicine in Valencia, Barcelona, and finally Paris. Orfila was able to prove he was capable of recovering arsenic from livers, spleens, hearts and certain muscle tissues. Orfila took the method of the Marsh test and applied it to human tissues and thus to forensic toxicology. Since the marsh test separated arsenic from tissue and made a black metallic deposit it was clear evidence of its presence. Orfila used this to show jurors the evidence before their very eyes. This made him a great expert witness and made forensic toxicology a strong field of expert evidence.