Honesty in Death

I found this and thought it good enough to share - The inscription on a grave reads:

"Donald Robertson, born 14th January 1785, died 4th June 1848, aged 63 years.

He was a peacable, quiet man and to all appearance a sincere Christian.

His death was much regretted which was caused by the stupidity of Laurence Tull in Clothister (Sullom) who sold him nitre instead of Epsom salts by which he was killed in the space of 5 hours after taking a dose of it."

How hysterical is that? well - not really - but talk about honest.

I have pinched this directly from Wikipedia - just in case - like me I had no idea what Nitre was.

Niter (US) or nitre (UK) is the mineral form of potassium nitrate, KNO3, also known as saltpeter (US) or saltpetre (UK). Historically, the term "nitre" – cognate with "natrium", an old word for sodium – has been very vaguely defined, and it has been applied to a variety of other minerals and chemical compounds, including sodium nitrate (also "soda nitre" or "cubic nitre"), sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate. This article is about the mineral form of potassium nitrate, which is the usual modern meaning.

Niter is a colorless to white mineral crystallizing in the orthorhombic crystal system. It usually is found as massive encrustations and effervescent growths on cavern walls and ceilings where solutions containing alkali potassium and nitrate seep into the openings. It occasionally occurs as prismatic acicular crystal groups, and individual crystals commonly show twinning. It is most common in arid environments. It is a soft mineral equal to gypsum on the Mohs scale and has a low specific gravity of 2.1. It has refractive indices of nα=1.332, nβ=1.504, and nγ=1.504. It readily dissolves in water.

Niter has been known since ancient times. The name is from Hebrew néter, for salt derived ashes. It may have been used as, or in conjunction with soap, as inferred by Jeremiah 2:22, "For though thou wash me with nitre, and take thee much sope . . ." However, it is not certain which substance (or substances) the Biblical "neter" refers to, with some suggesting sodium carbonate. A term (ἀφρόνιτρον) which translates as "foam of nitre" was a regular purchase in a fourth-century AD series of financial accounts, and since it was expressed as being "for the baths" was probably used as soap [1].

In literature, Edgar Allan Poe invokes the supposed Saint of Nitre repeatedly in the short story "The Cask of Amontillado" (1846), in which the main character uses the nitre to his "advantages", as it slowly murders his enemy. Fortunato's health worsens, until Montresor takes his revenge in the form of immurement.