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 glass tube of a thermometer usually contains mercury. Mercury is perfect to test temperature because it changes from a solid to liquid very easily. When the metal tip of the thermometer comes into contact with the material it is testing, it conducts heat energy to the mercury.t takes only 30 seconds for a digital thermometer to give you a reading because the heat-sensitive tip is able to accurately tell the computer chip inside what the temperature is. Your normal body temperature would be 98.6 Â°F on the Fahrenheit scale.