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.
Fahrenheit modified Roemer's design and scale, and thus, invented the new mercury thermometer with a Fahrenheit scale. Fahrenheit died in The Hague in 1736 and was buried there at the Cloister Church. After his death, in 1742, the Celsius scale was invented by Swedish Astronomer Anders Celsius.