[Nhcoll-l] old glass containers

[John E Simmons]

Paul's advice is very good, but handle even the small ones (and indeed, all
old glassware) very carefully. The degree of thinning of soda-lime glass
depends on the amount alkali components that are extracted from the glass.
High relative humidity in storage will accelerate thinning, as will
repeated wetting and drying of the glassware; the solvent the glassware
contains is also a factor.

--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
and
Instructor, Museum Studies
School of Library and Information Science
Kent State University
and
Lecturer in Art
Juniata College
Huntingdon, Pennsylvania

On Fri, Mar 20, 2015 at 3:44 PM, Callomon,Paul <prc44 at drexel.edu> wrote:

>  Those are Whittall Tatum jars, made here in Philadelphia and at least 80
> years old. The bigger the size, the more fragile they are; I have a
> ten-gallon one that we handle very carefully indeed.
>
> The smaller ones are pretty tough, though, and I’ve used the half-gallon
> size for years. They are made of soda glass and will crizzle in time, but
> are thick enough that it won’t weaken them significantly.
>
> You can cut new gaskets from neoprene sheet, but we make do with archival
> plastic foam sheet with a thin film of vacuum grease on both sides. You
> hand-tighten the clamp until you see the seal form all round the lid, then
> check up on them periodically.
>
> Finally, NEVER carry them by the clamp bow; always support them underneath.
>
>
>
>
>
> *Paul Callomon*
> *Collection Manager, Malacology, Invertebrate Paleontology and General
> Invertebrates*
>  ------------------------------
>
> *Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia*
>
> 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia PA 19103-1195, USA
> *callomon at ansp.org <callomon at ansp.org> Tel 215-405-5096 <215-405-5096> -
> Fax 215-299-1170 <215-299-1170>*
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu [mailto:
> nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] *On Behalf Of *Nancy Glover McCartney
> *Sent:* Friday, March 20, 2015 2:55 PM
> *To:* nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
> *Subject:* [Nhcoll-l] old glass containers
>
>
>
> I have several old glass containers housing fish, herps, inverts, etc.
> that are getting very low on fluid. I expect the containers are pretty
> brittle, as a gar with a giant lobster broke with almost no provocation and
> spewed formalin all over: not a process I want to repeat.  I don't have any
> idea what these specimens are stored in.
>
>
>
> I have attached a few pix of fish and the screw down tops that appear to
> have parafilm  or an ancient rubber around the lid; some of the smaller
> containers have what may be beeswax holding in a stopper.
>
>
>
> Should I attempt to open and replace fluid?  If so, how? What precautions?
>
>
>
> An earlier query 10 years or so ago said just to leave them alone, but
> maybe there is different advice now.
>
>
>
> I'd appreciate some doable suggestion.
>
>
>
> My thanks in advance, as always.
>
>
>
> Nancy Glover McCartney, PhD
> Curator of Zoology
> UA Collections Facility
> 120 BIOMASS
> University of Arkansas
> 2435 Hatch
> Fayetteville AR 72701
>
> Phone: 479-575-4370
> Fax: 479-575-7464
>
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