ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

James Marsh (chemist)

Okay kiddo, let's talk about James Marsh, who was a chemist. A chemist is someone who studies chemicals and how they react with each other. James Marsh was a very important chemist because he invented something called the Marsh Test.

The Marsh Test is a way to detect arsenic in someone's body. Arsenic is a very dangerous poison that can make people very sick or even kill them. James Marsh wanted to find a way to test for arsenic because sometimes people were being poisoned with it and nobody knew what was happening.

So, James Marsh figured out that if you take a small amount of the person's body fluid, like their blood or urine, and mix it with some chemicals, it will produce a gas. That gas can then be burned, and if there is arsenic in the sample, it will leave a black residue.

This was a very important discovery because it meant that doctors and scientists could now test for arsenic and know for sure if someone had been poisoned with it. It helped catch people who were trying to harm others with arsenic and also helped doctors diagnose patients who were sick from accidentally ingesting small amounts of arsenic.

So, in short, James Marsh was a chemist who invented the Marsh Test, which is a way to detect arsenic in someone's body, and it helped save people's lives by catching arsenic poisoning early.