The story says, "caustic effects of the liquid mercury." That phrase is a bit off target.

Perhaps the writer discovered that mercury is used in one of the processes for making sodium hydroxide, also known as lye or caustic soda.

Anyone old enough to have handled liquid mercury knows it's "mostly harmless," as long as you ignore inhalation of the vapor or ingestion of compounds. (Don't try this at home, kids. Don't try it anywhere. Don't recommend it, even to your worst enemies.)

Mercuric chloride, HgCl2, is called "corrosive sublimate" and is dangerous. Dimethyl mercury, Hg(CH3)2, is extremely toxic.

Years ago when I worked at a museum in Boston there was some Hg that was handled without much caution. No one thought it worth bothering about. I checked with MIT's health-and-safety officer to get better info, which I gave to the museum staff.

The dangers to those working at the pyramid are from inhalation. See Wikipedia's article on Hg poisoning for more info.

Yeah: In grade school in the 40’s, the teacher demonstrated the specific gravity of it by floating brass gram weights in it. Then he let us rub some over quarters with our bare fingers to make them shiny

I played with it as a teen, we used it to shine up our dimes. Later we used it to extract fine particles of gold. Then all of a sudden it became toxic. Perhaps that's why some people tell me I'm crazy.

Thanks for this. Be sure to post a follow-up on what they find.

There are "Fooling Yourself" and "Crystal Ball", too, although in "Fooling Yourself", they are criticizing someone else for fooling himself..

Agreed. Some of the roads in South America are still being used thousands of years after their construction despite an incredibly hostile environment.

I only wish it were "The Best of Times", but wishing is not allowed in the Gulch.

One of the interesting tales about what the Chinese government may find, eventually, in their laborious excavation of the tomb of the first emperor, is a model of the emperor's original vision for the royal city, with a river of mercury (chosen because it wouldn't evaporate). After their find of the terra cotta army, this wouldn't surprise me.

Better than "The Grand Illusion"

I don't think they would have. The alchemists in Europe used it and handled it all the time and did not understand its toxicity. I seem to remember playing with it in science class in school on a table top. So I think fully understanding the toxicity is a pretty recent thing. If it weren't so toxic - it's a pretty cool substance to play with. :)

"Come Sail Away" - Could it be a Gulch theme song? Nope, it references a deity.

The documentary did not say. On the maps of the underground cave tunnels, there were several interestingly named parts and quite a few danger symbols. The maps were almost caricatures.

why were the underground rivers toxic?

Interesting. I don't think the ancients were as stupid as some think they were. Their engineering skills have sure passed the test of time.

+1 for my favorite Styx song.

They could have understood Hg's toxicity by "trial and error" (pun intended). As for Styx, you are hitting on another of my favorite bands. First Rich with The Doors and now Styx. The comparison with the river Styx is a correct one. I have watched a couple of History Channel or H2 episodes on Mayan temples. Underground toxic rivers were discussed.

Interesting, if I recall correctly I think the ancient Chinese did the same thing with their high-class burials.

would they have understood it was toxic? the article said that mercury would have been difficult for them to mine and its reflective quality they associated with the supernatural. I think they said it was likely a symbol for a super natural river like Styx. now you get a song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5MAg_yW...

A mercury boundary would certainly prevent graverobbers from disturbing the dead!