Red mercury is a 19th-century term for protiodide or iodide of mercury. It was commonly recommended for use as an antisyphilitic as late as 1913, most notably during the early years of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments. Taken orally, it caused hematemesis. Today, it continues to be used in some countries for skin lightening, causing some cases of nephrotic syndrome.
The term was adopted in the 1970s from red mercuric iodide (mercury(II) iodide) as part of several hoax substances of uncertain composition purportedly used in the creation of nuclear bombs, as well as a variety of unrelated weapons systems. Red mercuric iodide is a poisonous, scarlet-red, odorless, tasteless powder that is insoluble in water. However, samples of "red mercury" obtained from arrested would-be terrorists invariably consisted of nothing more than various red dyes or powders of little value, which some suspect was being sold as part of a campaign intended to flush out potential nuclear smugglers. The hoax was first reported in 1979 and was commonly discussed in the media in the 1990s. Prices as high as $1,800,000 per kilogram were reported.
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Famous quotes containing the words red and/or mercury:
“...I didn’t consider intellectuals intelligent, I never liked them or their thoughts about life. I defined them as people who care nothing for argument, who are interested only in information; or as people who have a preference for learning things rather than experiencing them. They have opinions but no point of view.... Their talk is the gloomiest type of human discourse I know.... This is a red flag to my nature. Intellectuals, to me have no natures ...”
—Margaret Anderson (1886–1973)
“The mercury sank in the mouth of the dying day.
What instruments we have agree
The day of his death was a dark cold day.”
—W.H. (Wystan Hugh)