Lewis Carroll’s Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland arose from the fact that hatters used an orange liquid containing mercury to separate the hair from the skin when making felt hats. The mercury, inhaled from the fumes emitted by the vats, sometimes caused them to lose their hair and their minds. Inhaling mercury is, in fact, much worse than taking it orally (like Dr. Rush’s thunder pills…), as it damages the connections of the central nervous system and causes holes in the brain, similar to advanced Alzheimer’s disease.
