“Then, if plunged into boiling water, the mercury would rise very high indeed.”
“And plunged into ice it would sink very low.”
“Would it ever squeeze itself down into a solid?” said I.
“You mean, would it freeze as water does? It requires very, very intense cold to freeze mercury; but it is not impossible to do it. I have heard the master of the shop in which I lay unsold for years, who was himself something of a philosopher, and from whose conversation with others I have learned the little that I know,—I have heard him say that he has seen quicksilver frozen quite hard, so that even a medal was made of it; but it was not from the mere effect of winter weather.”
“And, of course, if any one had put the medal into his warm pocket, it would have begun to run about again directly. The best way to keep it quiet seems to be to make an am—— What did you call its mixture with some other metal?”
“Amalgam,” replied the Thimble.
“Ah, yes! behind the mirror is an amalgam of quicksilver and tin.”
“Like energy united with common sense.”
“And taught to reflect,” added the Scissors.