Mercury (element) is used in thermometers, barometers, manometers, sphygmomanometers, float valves, mercury switches, mercury relays, fluorescent lamps and other devices, though concerns about the element's toxicity have led to mercury thermometers and sphygmomanometers being largely phased out in clinical environments in favor of alternatives such as alcohol- or galinstan-filled glass thermometers and thermistor- or infrared-based electronic instruments. Likewise, mechanical pressure gauges and electronic strain gauge sensors have replaced mercury sphygmomanometers. Mercury remains in use in scientific research applications and in amalgam for dental restoration in some locales. It is also used in fluorescent lighting. Electricity passed through mercury vapor in a fluorescent
Willem van Heythuysen Posing with a Sword Willem van Heythuysen Posing with a Sword Willem van Heythuysen posing with a sword is a painting by the Dutch Golden Age painter Frans Hals, painted in 1625 and now in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich. It shows the Haarlem cloth merchant Willem van Heythuysen in a theatrical pose with a rapier. The painting shows a proud man standing in front of a neoclassical architectural element with drapery, leaning on a sword. In the distance a garden with a couple can be seen, and in the foreground some roses lie on the ground. It was first documented by Adriaan Loosjes, who