[The French matches or the singular history of poisonings by the white phosphorus].

The history of phosphorus poisonings is dominated by the existence of two allotropic forms, the red phosphorus, without toxicity and the white phosphorus, causing very severe necrosis. Although phosphorus has been isolated in 1669, it is mainly during the first part of the Nineteen century that numerous accidental or criminal poisonings by this metalloid were observed, linked to the extensive use of the whie phosphorus in French matches. Some interesting stories of phosphorus poisoning have been described by A. Tardieu and F. Z. Roussin in Etude médico-légale et clinique de l'empoisonnement, published in 1867. During this period, several pharmacists were strongly implicated in the analytical toxicology of phosphorus.