Difficult choices as death nears. As the changes described in this article develop in the final days or hours of a progressive terminal illness, difficult choices may arise. There may be questions about whether to provide food and fluids, receive blood transfusions, or treat infections.
The use of mercury in thermometers dates back hundreds of years. It was widely used because it reliably expands and contracts with changes in temperatures. It is highly poisonous, however, and can enter the body through the respiratory or digestive tracts, or directly through the skin.
The Eighteenth Century: Celsius and Fahrenheit. By the early 18th century, as many as 35 different temperature scales had been devised. In 1714, Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit invented both the mercury and the alcohol thermometer. Fahrenheit's mercury thermometer consists of a capillary tube which after being filled with mercury is heated to expand the mercury and expel the air from the tube.