Example of a simile in popular science writing:
"Val Ashburner, a psychiatrist at Sunbury, enthused over lithium, finding it such an irresistible option that he siphoned the solution out with stunning results. Twelve of the more than 50 patients to whom he prescribed lithium were liberated of all signs of illness, striding out of the asylum and into the community; none died. So zealous was Ashburner that – like a small outback mining town – the Sunbury hospital pumped no less that 15 pounds (7 kilograms) of the metallic lithium crystal into patients, grain by grain, in rapid time."
de Moore, G., & Westmore, A. (2016). Finding Sanity. John Cade, lithium and the taming of bipolar disorder. Allen & Unwin.
This is a confusing extract. Lithium metal is not used as a medicine, but rather a compound (such as the chloride or carbonate) which releases lithium ions is the therapeutic agent. So, 'metallic lithium crystals' would certainly not be used and could not be 'pumped' or 'siphoned'. It is a common alternative conception among learners to conflate the properties of an element and its compounds.
Indeed, the clinician would not have any contact with the metal, but would only handle the salt. It is not clear if 'solution' refers to the compound made up into a solution (for intravenous injections) – in which case it is not clear why the authors then refer to metallic crystals – or whether it is the medical 'solution' in which case siphoning and pumping are meant metaphorically.
