“He was hot and the tongue was dry!
Red all over and in pain Oh my!
Now do not stumble and fall!
Twas just high fever you all!”
This could make you mad! Not the poem (ok fine, in addition to the poem!)
Then again this was like a thick fluid which was known to turn into gold!
now do not be fluid!
read on!
One of the most interesting metals ever for us in the chemistry lab was the mercury!
The fluid was metal! We were told that it is a conductor of electricity and even its vapours conduct electricity!
I used to love the fact that the thermometer we used to take in the camps in our college used to have this Mercury in them!
The way we used to check temperature was to first shake the meter and place it on the arm pit! Of course some confusions used to arise many times when during our practical exams one student used the armpit for temperature assessment while another tensed student went the oral way!
I was just glad for the patients that there was no rectal thermometer!
The small silver line of the thermometer was the most precious part since mercury is very costly indeed! Once someone used the Human thermometer to test the boiling water and the mercury pump just propelled out like a rocket! Very hot indeed!
Another close association of medicos and Mercury was the BP apparatus (the technical name is big and called sphygmomanometer but I did not want to risk mis spelling it!). Even that had a mercury tank and am sure the price was high because of that! The ones without them were not that accurate but the mercury ones were not easy to maintain and you need to keep them in plain level! Even now with all the fancy electronic equipments I still trust the trusty old sphygmomanometer measured by an expert!
The fact that it is a metal but is liquid and also can turn into vapour which can also conduct electricity was simply amazing! But for all the thrill of mercury; it was a dangerous metal!
When we were small, the chatterboxes and storytellers (read those with great imagination!) of the class used to tell stories on how if you swallow mercury it will come out after making a hole in the stomach!
It is of course true though that mercury is toxic! Coming out of your stomach, well that is a story for a late night horror show! It can make you mad though!
In fact the mad as a hatter analogy though popularised by Lewis Carroll’s 1865 novel “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and means someone who’s crazy or prone to unpredictable behavior, didn’t originate with Carroll!
Instead, the expression is linked to the hat-making industry and mercury poisoning. In the 18th and 19th centuries, industrial workers used a toxic substance, mercury nitrate, as part of the process of turning the fur of small animals, such as rabbits, into felt for hats.
Workplace safety standards often were lax and prolonged exposure to mercury caused employees to develop a variety of physical and mental ailments, including tremors (dubbed “hatter’s shakes”), speech problems, emotional instability and hallucinations!
Now one fine day if you have a drink of wine or any spirit too much then simply take a thermometer and break it and blame all your ‘symptoms’ on the escaped fumes of mercury! Or simply yet, do not drink!
Water is fine though!
Definitely fine and most of the time really amazing were the acting prowess of Durga Khote though my favourite has always been the mother in KARZ! “Look at him through the eyes of a mother and you will see that he is my son!” Goosebumps always!
Quick sketch on another busy day! The mercury is falling though! The temperature I meant!
SHubh ratri!
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