For what it's worth, I thought it funny too. They used all sorts of stuff back then and it didn't have to be inspected by some consumer agency. For all we know, they had arsenic as a binder in the mix or somebody fixed up a batch after making soap and the kettle still had lye residue. Maybe he was a 'closet' drinker. I'd think a lawyer could afford a bottle of spirits but maybe he wasn't that great a lawyer and didn't have enough coin. We are learning some very interesting but also very strange things.

Pam