While we think of it as a hazard today, references to quicksilver in history don't connect it with killing people, see https://books.google.com/books?id=nCKxSwUlX-AC&printsec=fron... for example.

Fascinating, I love being wrong here. I looked into it for an hour and you're absolutely right. Sincerely, thank you for educating me about that. I was always told it was a defensive mechanism, even by archaeology professors. I wonder how that myth became so widespread in academia.

May I also say that this is the only place on the Internet, of which I know, where an admission of being incorrect is greeted by a torrent of support rather than mocking or denigration?

Academic discovery includes being wrong, and the fact that this is still understood here makes it an extremely rare place.

Please, please no upvotes to this comment, as I'm simply trying express my gratitude for all of your support for an essential element of academic inquiry.

From the deepest part of my heart, thank you, HN.

Its not mentioned in Wikipedia but people still consume small amounts for cinnabar (ore of mercury) for medicinal purposes.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, this is not advice, just my personal experience...

It works amazingly well to soothe a sore throat (temporarily), far better than the usual lozenges and without the numbing sensation that the stronger sprays and lozenges have. I don't know where to get it. Amazon does not list it. Googling seems to show that it can be purchased from pharmacies in the UK... But I do wonder how safe it is.

When I was a kid any mention of a sore throat brought out the swabs and the merthiolate or mercuro-chrome. I think that's what it was called anyway. Always ended up with red-orange tonsils. Also, any cuts or scrapes were dosed with the same stuff. Band-aids and mercuro-chrome - I'll never forget the smell of a new band-aid.

While there are some extremely toxic mercury compounds, elemental mercury is not among them. See: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM200006153422405

Wow! I had no idea you could inject that much mercury and have so few side effects from it. The article states she injected 10 mL of mercury which, due the density of mercury, is 136 g or 0.3 lbs.

Some of these ancient rulers thought that Mercury would prolong life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_Shi_Huang

Incorrect. Mercury is considered an elixir of immortality by both European and Eastern alchemists. It would be added to a tomb to promote eternal life.

Pure mercury or it's cinnabar sulfate behaves as preservative on skins or corpse skin paintings. It's not really a big leap then to add it to immortality potions.

Carbon dioxide was a more common hazard - organic material decomposing in a sealed chamber would result in CO2 pooling in the depths, meaning that a visitor many years later could asphyxiate upon entry, which would undoubtedly discourage his friends from following.