Career
In 1846, he became professor of chemistry in the Veterinary School in Kureghem. Melsens applied the principle of the Faraday cage to lightning conductors and invented iodine tincture for disinfection. The Louis Melsens Prize is awarded to a Belgian or naturalised Belgian author of the most remarkable work on applied chemistry or physics.
The Melsensstraat or Rue Melsens in Brussels is named after him.