Mercury is the only metal to be liquid at room temperature, giving it magic and mystical properties, and the name quicksilver. This beautiful poison fascinates alchemists and modern scientists. Mercury is a component of ancient potions such as the Elixir of Life.
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Grinding natural cinnabar (HgS) or mercuric sulfide produces the pigment vermilion, a bright shade of orange red. In antiquity, mining and processing the ore causes madness and painful death. Miners are convicts, slaves and prisoners of war.
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Mercury is once known as hydrargyrum from the Greek hydro (water) and argyros (silver). It's named for the planet Mercury, fastest around the sun, and the Roman god. In metallurgy, mercury is one of the seven metals of antiquity.
Mercury is the god of financial gain, commerce, eloquence, messages, communication, travelers, boundaries, luck, trickery, merchants and thieves. He's the Roman god equated with Greek Hermes. Both take the role of psychopomp, guiding the recently deceased.
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As an element mercury can dissolve such metals as gold, copper and silver to create amalgams, or alloys. Depending on the amount of mercury in the mixture, the product can be a liquid, soft paste or solid.
At one time only iron can contain the vigorous metal. Trade in mercury is done in iron flasks. In magic, iron has the properties to repel or subdue creatures of Faerie, and this associates mercury with the spirit world.
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For alchemists, mercury is the First Matter or prima materia (chaos) from which all metals are formed. It an ingredient in the fabled Philosopher's Stone. The symbol for mercury in alchemy is the ouroboros, or snake / dragon biting its tail.
Scholars of ancient alchemy believe changing the quality and quantity of sulfur in mercury creates different metals. The purest of these is gold. In alchemy mercury is used in experiments to transmute base metals.
The dangerous practice of mining cinnabar, the ore from which mercury is extracted, goes back to the Neolithic Age. Mercury is extracted by heating cinnabar (HgS) and condensing the vapor, or grinding the ore. In 1500 BCE archeologists find mercury in an Egyptian tomb.
In ancient medicine mercury is used to treat parasitic worms, melancholy, constipation, syphilis and influenza. For hundreds of years, mercury was used by rich and poor in liquid form or as a salt. Mercury chloride is used in medicine as a diuretic and disinfectant.
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The 16th century Swiss physician and alchemist Paracelsus recommends mercury chloride to treat syphilis. A renowned Renaissance scientist, Paracelsus is the first to combine chemistry with medicine. He's also responsible for the invention of gnomes.
The first known process for extracting mercury from ore comes from the natural philosopher Theophrastus. In his work On Stones (fourth century BCE) he writes,
“Mercury is produced by grinding cinnabar with vinegar in a copper mortar with a copper pestle.”
The god Mercury carries a caduceus or staff with two twined serpents. Originally the staff relates to communication and commerce.
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The caduceus forms the base for the planetary and alchemical symbol of mercury. It's invented when Hermes / Mercury throws his staff at two snakes fighting. They coil around the staff. The cross-hatch at bottom is added later to make the symbol more Christian.
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In England of the 18th and 19th centuries, mercury is used in the widespread production of felt, a fabric of hat makers. Mercury is absorbed through mucus membranes and skin. Long-term exposure an cause erethism.
A neurological disorder marked by slurred speech, tremors, stumbling and hallucinations, erethism also creates a state of abnormal mental excitement or irritation. It's known colloquially as "Mad Hatter's Disease".
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Further symptoms of mercury poisoning include brain, kidney and lung damage; acrodynia or pink disease, a painful condition causing dusty pink pigmentation in feet and hands.
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Mercury poisoning can cause neurological illness like Minamata disease, which also attacks the kidneys and organs. Mercury enters the environment in a number of ways.
Water can be contaminated by absorbing mercury from submerged trees and soil of reservoirs. Permafrost soils accumulate mercury through atmospheric deposition. When permafrost thaws it releases mercury into wetlands, lakes and rivers.
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At one time mercury is added to marine paint to protect boat hulls. In horticulture the element helps prevent fungal diseases of seeds, flower bulbs and other vegetation.
It's still used for its antimicrobial properties. Today the main source of mercury toxicity is contaminated sediment of past environmental discharges. Improper disposal also pollutes lands and waterways.
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Mercury comes from natural sources in the environment and occurs in places of high heat activity such as geothermal springs. It's found in geologic deposits, and the ocean. Mercury enters the atmosphere by action of volcanoes, forest fires and weathering of rocks.
Human-related sources of mercury primarily include coal combustion, waste incineration, industrial use and mining. It enters the environment through burning of fossil fuels, and municipal or medical waste.
Bodies of humans and other animals have slight amounts of ingested mercury, which is stored in the kidneys or brain. Unlike metals such as copper and iron, mercury is not a necessary corporeal element.
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Mercury or quicksilver is used in thermometers, barometers, float valves, mercury switches, mercury relays, fluorescent lamps and other devices. Due to concerns about toxicity, manufacture of instruments containing mercury is less common today.