I still have a small vial of mercury I removed from light switches almost 
50 years ago. 

There is a "pellet" with metal on both sides, separated by a glass or 
ceramic bead. When the switch is tilted up, the mercury makes electrical 
contact to both metal sides and a hole inside the ceramic bead. I was 10 
years old at the time, and we were very nervous about breaking the bead 
because some mercury compounds are explosive (mercury fulminate). After 
debating a few days, we cracked it open and course we were enthralled with 
the mystery liquid, but we knew it was toxic and never touched or heated it.

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