The =ordinary thermometer= (Greek: _heat measure_), the most commonly used and most widely known of all meteorological instruments, was in an elementary form known to Galileo, and was used by him in his lectures at the University of Padua during the years 1592 to 1609. Thermometers enable us to measure the temperatures of different bodies by comparison with certain universally accepted standards of temperature. These standards are the freezing and boiling points of distilled water. In its common form the thermometer consists of a glass tube, closed at the top, and expanding at its lower end into a hollow spherical or cylindrical glass bulb. This bulb and part of the tube are filled with mercury or alcohol. As the temperature rises, the liquid expands, flows out of the bulb, and rises in the tube. As the temperature falls, the mercury or alcohol contracts, and therefore stands at a lower level in the tube. In order that the amount of this rise or fall may be accurately known, some definite scale for measurement must be adopted. The scale commonly used in this country owes its name to Fahrenheit (born in Danzig in 1686; died in 1736), who was the first to settle upon the use of mercury as the liquid in thermometers, and also the first definitely to adopt two fixed points in graduating the scale. The division of this scale into 180° between the freezing point (32°) and the boiling point (212°) seems to have been taken from the graduation of a semicircle. Fahrenheit was a manufacturer of all sorts of physical apparatus, and it has been thought probable that he had some special facilities for dividing his thermometer tubes into 180 parts. Mercury is most commonly used as the liquid in thermometers, because it readily indicates changes of temperature, and because over most of the world the winter cold is not sufficient to freeze it. The freezing point of mercury is about 40° below zero (-40° F.). Alcohol, which has a much lower freezing point, is therefore used in thermometers which are to be employed in very cold regions. Alcohol thermometers must, for instance, be used in Northern Siberia, where the mean January temperature is 60° below zero.