Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is the only metal that is liquid at standard conditions for temperature and pressure; the only other element that is liquid under these conditions is bromine. With a freezing point of −38.83 °C and boiling point of 356.73 °C, mercury has one of the narrowest ranges of its liquid state of any metal.
It is unfortunate that mercury's toxicity has caused many useful devices that use the stuff to be banned or, at best, severely curtailed in use or availability. Barometers, thermometers and batteries come to mind. Yet we are all encouraged, in order to "save the planet", to use low energy lamps such as CFLs - these contain mercury (albeit a small amount), yet how many end up in wheelie bins? But anybody that owns, for example, a Fortin barometer is going to look after it carefully and would never dream of condemning it to such an undignified fate. It's politically correct nonsense propagated by incompetent politicians.
But all this does have advantages to collectors like myself. Organisations that discover they have such devices on their premises find they have to get rid of them for "health and safety" reasons. They also discover that so-called "safe disposal" costs a fortune. Consequently, they are sometimes more than happy to give them away to avoid the costs and responsibilities. This is how I obtained this collection of mercury filled things. Please select an item from the sidebar for further details.