This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/EBB.2ACE/1923.3.1 Message Board Post: Pat, you have a very convincing alternate answer. All I can say is that Arsenic was widely used in the past to cure cutaneous eruptions and to help with digestion. It caused many accidental deaths. I believe the only way to settle this is to see the actual hand written record.