"I too played with liquid mercury at school. I kept mine in a small box in the pocket of my school blazer & I enjoyed dropping it from a height onto my desk where it would shatter into a hundred shiny droplets. These droplets could easily be recombined by rolling them together until the original large & heavy blob was reformed. Unfortunately the mercury would pick up chalk dust from the desk, losing its appealingly shiny surface. When this happened I squeezed it through the cotton of my hankie where it emerged on the other side of the cloth pristine again, leaving the dirt behind on the cloth. Now, I find it amazing that you can force molten [Ed: liquid?] metal through cloth but at the time it didn't strike me as remarkable..."

David Fuller's view Yes, the shattering and regrouping - much like 'Terminator 2' - was fascinating. I have occasionally wondered how much mercury poisoning I absorbed through the skin or more likely from vapours, but probably picked up more from the old amalgam dental fillings and swordfish, before the extinction threat rightly made this delicacy very non PC. But you are presumably thriving, fortunately, and I'm on the mend.

You may also remember 'Silly Putty', which bounced high but completely shattered on more extreme impact. It was a childhood favourite and presumably a lot safer than mercury.