The Seven Follies of Science [2nd ed.]

with propriety, be included under that head. But as it has received special attention in the apocryphal works of Hermes Trism

s to fix mercury, and judged himself to have made a fair hit at the philosopher's stone." Hermes, or, rather, those who wrote over his name, speaks in the jargon of the adepts, about "catching th

at heaviness, its metallic brilliancy, and its wonderful mobility, must all have combined to r

d about like a solid sphere, but offered no resistance to the touch, and when pressed it split up into innumerable smaller globules so that the problem of "fixing" it must have had a strange fa

tal. For, although this is not in any sense a solution of the problem, yet it is a most curious sight and one which was rarely seen before the discovery of the liquefaction of t

ing mixtures made up of ordinary salts, it is not difficult to exhibit this metal in the solid state at any time. But it was not until the discovery of the

acid first to the liquid, and then to the solid state, in the form of a white snow. The temperature of this snow was about -80° Cent. (-176° Fahr.) and when it was mixe

h was then carefully leveled and a mixture of solid carbonic acid and ether was placed over the metal in the usual way. In a few seconds the mercury was frozen quite solid so that it could be lifted out by means of two pairs of wooden forceps and bent and knotted at will. But

the freezing point. When the mercury came in contact with the cold water, the latter began to freeze and by careful manipulation it was

rcury is only about one-thirtieth of that of water, it requires a

emical sense; the accomplishment of that still remains an unsol