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.
Meteorologists use barometers to measure this atmospheric pressure (also called barometric pressure). At sea level the atmospheric pressure is approximately 1 kilogram per square centimeter (14.7 pounds per square inch), which will cause a column of mercury in a mercury barometer to rise 760 millimeters (30.4 inches).