From Arsenic to Zirconium

MERCURY, Hg

MERCURIAL, ARCANE

Flows dense from red hot cinnabar—mercurial, arcane,

Amalgamates, evaporates; its use, though, on the wane.

It helps to gauge our weather’s mood . . .

. . . and rate our health from poor to rude.

But root-caused Minamata’s woe, drove hatters nigh insane!

Flows dense from red hot cinnabar—mercurial, arcane,

GROUP 12 TRANSITION METAL

It’s difficult for any other metal to match mercury’s mesmeric, silvery mystique. Mercury is the only metal to exist in liquid form at room temperature.²³ This attribute is acknowledged in its chemical symbol, Hg, taken from the Latin word, hydragyrum, meaning liquid silver. Mercury ...