Abstract: Records of legal proceeding from the Senate in Nice during the Restoration show us the way in which criminal instruction was carried out. In the case of poisoning, recourse to experts was necessary. The archives underline the importance of this expertise and enable us to trace the methodology employed in order to determine the quality, quantity, and noxiousness of the poison. They also show us the limits of this method, often linked to the deficiencies of the material and conceptual equipment of the expert.
