[NHCOLL-L:5070] Re: Glycerin for C&S specimens

[John E Simmons]

Andy,
Glycerin was originally manufactured from animal or vegetable oils.
Synthetic glycerin has not been around that long.  According to the glycerin
article on Wikipedia, glycerin is a by-product of the production of
biodiesel, so the manufacture of synthetic glycerin has declined as the
market is now flooded with glycerin produced from vegetable fats.

As long as the chemical formula is the same, and you do not detect any
strange odors or other differences in appearance in the vegetable-based vs
synthetic glycerin, it should be fine.  Does the vegetable-based glycerin
have the same CAS number as the synthetic stuff?

As with any new source of product for something that grows mold as easily as
glycerin, I would make sure to use thymol or menthol crystals and monitor
the stuff closely for the first few months I was using it.

--John

John E. Simmons
Museologica
128 E. Burnside Street
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania 16823-2010
simmons.johne at gmail.com
303-681-5708
www.museologica.com
and
Adjunct Curator of Collections
Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery
Penn State University
University Park, Pennsylvania

On Thu, Nov 4, 2010 at 12:56 PM, Bentley, Andrew Charles <abentley at ku.edu>wrote:

>  Hi all
>
>
>
> Does anyone know if there is an inherent difference in synthetic vs.
> vegetable based glycerin for use in C&S specimens?  I have just purchased
> some vegetable based at a very reasonable price and can see no visible
> difference but wanted to check.
>
>
>
> Any help appreciated
>
>
>
> Andy
>
>
>
>     A  :             A  :             A  :
>  }<(((_°>.,.,.,.}<(((_°>.,.,.,.}<)))_°>
>     V                V                V
>  Andy Bentley
>  Ichthyology Collection Manager
>  University of Kansas
>  Natural History Museum & Biodiversity Research Center
>  Dyche Hall
>  1345 Jayhawk Boulevard
>  Lawrence, KS, 66045-7561
>  USA
>
>  Tel: (785) 864-3863
>  Fax: (785) 864-5335
>  Email: ABentley at ku.edu        :
>                            :                 :
>     A  :             A  :             A  :
>  }<(((_°>.,.,.,.}<(((_°>.,.,.,.}<)))_°>
>     V                V                V
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>
>



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