Literary notes about mercurial (AI summary)
The term "mercurial" is employed with a dual significance in literature. On one hand, it describes characters or moods that are volatile, changeable, and unpredictable, as seen in references to a "mercurial temperament" that requires firmness [1] or in the portrayal of individuals whose quicksilver nature infuses their spirit with energy and caprice [2], [3]. On the other hand, it is used in more technical or medicinal contexts to denote substances or instruments involving mercury, such as in formulations of ointments [4], or in devices like thermometers and barometers that rely on the element's physical properties [5], [6]. This versatile usage allows authors to evoke both the elusive, dynamic quality of human nature and the distinct characteristics of mercury-based materials.
- He was a man of mercurial temperament, and could only be managed by firmness.
— from Motor Matt's Short Circuit; or, The Mahout's Vow by Stanley R. Matthews - The German Socialist is in fact a practical dreamer, quite in contrast to his mercurial, effervescent Latin prototype.
— from The Secrets of the German War Office by Armgaard Karl Graves - So our mercurial Ladislaw has a queer genealogy!
— from Middlemarch by George Eliot - Inunctions with diluted mercurial ointment, iodoform, etc. are useful adjuvants.
— from A System of Practical Medicine. By American Authors. Vol. 2 General Diseases (Continued) and Diseases of the Digestive System - Different precautions to be observed in using the mercurial thermometer.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - The height of the mercurial column is read from a graduated scale attached to the tube.
— from Meteorology: The Science of the Atmosphere by Charles Fitzhugh Talman
