Louis_Melsens

Louis Henri Frédéric Melsens (11 July 1814 in Leuven – 20 April 1886 in Brussels) was a Belgian physicist and chemist. In 1846, he became professor of chemistry at the Royal Veterinary School of Cureghem in Anderlecht, Brussels. Melsens applied the principle of the Faraday cage to lightning conductors and invented tincture of iodine for disinfection. In medical circles he became internationally famous for his research on oral administration of potassium iodide as a cure for mercury or lead poisoning.