Presumptive test

In medical and forensic science, a presumptive test is an analysis of a sample which establishes either:

1. The sample is definitely not a certain substance
2. The sample probably is the substance.

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For example, the Kastle-Meyer test will show that a sample is not blood, or that the sample is probably blood (but it may be one of a range of less common substances). Further chemical testing is required to prove that the substance is blood.

In medicine, a presumptive diagnosis identifies the likely condition a patient has.

Examples

• Cobalt thiocyanate test‎
• Duquenois-Levine reagent‎
• Kastle-Meyer test
• Marquis reagent