[Nhcoll-l] Refixing, Ward's solution, and other problems with old specimen

[John E Simmons]

Jade and James,
You have received some excellent advice from Dirk, Simon, and Andy, but I
thought I would add my two cents.

I agree that re-fixation will be of little use. Formaldehyde fixes fresh
tissues extremely well, but for long-preserved specimens it would really
only work as a preservative, not a fixative. Particularly due to the safety
issues in working with formaldehyde, I would follow the advice to stage the
specimens down the concentration ladder to a bath of deionized or distilled
water to wash them (to remove as much of the old preservatives as you can),
then stage them back up to fresh 70% ethyl alcohol. You should check the
alcohol concentration after a week or two to make sure that it is still 70%
(the strength at which alcohol is a good biocide). Sometimes even when
using a concentration ladder there can be enough water left in the
specimens to dilute the preservative. Do use the concentration ladder--it
is far better for the specimens.

Fluid preservation in alcohol is a balance between dehydration and
preservation. The stronger the alcohol, the more the specimens will shrink
(dehydrate). Despite the number of recommendations you will see in the
literature for 75% alcohol for fish and herps, it has never been shown to
be more effective than 70% so I would use 70% to get less shrinkage of the
specimens. But make sure it is a good 70%--check the concentration with a
good, clean, dry hydrometer or better yet, a digital density meter (if you
can afford one).

The one exception to the above is fish and amphibian eggs and larvae.
Because their tissues contain so much water, preserving them in alcohol
will make the specimens unusable. Fish and amphibian eggs and larvae should
be preserved and stored in buffered 10% formalin (1 part formaldehyde with
9 parts distilled or deionized water, neutral buffered).

The proper name for "Wards solution" is Wards-safe, and it is mentioned in
"Fluid Preservation: A Comprehensive Reference." On page 69 there is a
discussion of glycol- and phenol-based preservatives including Wards-safe,
and it is listed in Table 17, on page 332. The MSDS that Andy sent you is
the correct one for this product. Based on an analysis done by an
independent lab, the unknown proprietary ingredient in Wards-safe is most
likely gluteraldehyde. The other ingredients, as Andy mentioned, are methyl
alcohol (which is a lousy preservative due to the small size of its
molecule--it is probably added as a denaturant) and propylene glycol, which
works for a while as a holding fluid, but it is not a preservative, either.
It is worth noting that Wards-safe and similar products were developed and
sold as safer alternatives to formaldehyde and alcohol for specimens to be
dissected. They were never intended to be used as lon-term preservatives,
and do not work as long-term preservatives. Make sure you stage Wards-safe
specimens to water and then up to alcohol. If you don't get the propylene
glycol rinsed out of the specimen, it is likely to cause the preservative
to turn cloudy later. I have worked with a collection once stored in
Wards-safe and had a terrible time getting all the glycol out of the
specimens--for larger specimens, it took many, many changes of fresh
preservative.

As for the cleared and stained specimens--do you know what they are stored
in now? Most people keep them in 100% glycerin, although sometimes a dilute
alcohol is used.

If you wish to replace the Resistall labels you should try a spun-bonded
polyethylene paper (we can't get the goatskin parchment in the US,
unfortunately). Andy's recommendation of a thermal printer is excellent. If
you can't afford that, however, you can purchase "Rite in the Rain" brand
paper (which is really spun-bonded polyethylene) or a similar product. You
can use it in some printers (but be careful, it can melt) or write on it
with a permanent ink that you let dry for 24 hr before submerging, but do
follow the advice of others and test your ink-and-label substrate
combination before using it with specimens. You can find the Rite in the
Rain products here: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.riteintherain.com_shop-2Dproducts&d=AwIBaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=ZkAGzH1lN-gJ3H_VYP67I4xNHMzipmxs_lH1ae7ANuw&s=h04fBF0lxFQmJrpsil18hOBaF-GRF40YQniYx9SjHbE&e= 

Another book that you may find useful is the new (third) edition of
"Herpetological Collecting and Collections Management," which was just
issued in July 2015 (this is an update of the 2002 edition). Although it is
very herpetology-centric, almost all of the preserving and collection
management advice applies equally well to fish. It is available from the
Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAR):
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.ssarbooks.com_si_007.html&d=AwIBaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=ZkAGzH1lN-gJ3H_VYP67I4xNHMzipmxs_lH1ae7ANuw&s=8kBehNpDvuTwNHR-J2hbvSLVu03Kl2XL-wotCHTFN48&e= 

Please feel free to contact me, Simon, Dirk, or Andy or post your queries
to the listserv if you have any more questions. We are always happy to be
of assistance.

--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 Wed, Sep 9, 2015 at 9:32 PM, Jade Keehn <keehnj at nevada.unr.edu> wrote:

> Greetings,
>
> This year, our department is working to revamp a historic fish and herp
> collection in various states of disrepair. We have been diligently sifting
> through the curatorial literature to prepare for this process; however,
> there are a few things we could use some advice on. Hopefully, there are a
> few knowledgeable wet collection curators who can answer some questions
> before we begin our assessment and treatment of this valuable collection.
>
> Our first question regards refixing museum specimens. A number of amphibs
> are in rather "soggy" condition and we are considering injecting them with
> 10% formalin before  returning them to ethanol solution. This 'refixing'
> process was mentioned in a 1978 ASIH museum practices document, but we
> haven't seen it discussed in anything more recent. Are there any potential
> disadvantages to refixing specimens to improve specimen quality/ longevity?
>
> The herpetological collection is currently labeled using Resistall paper.
> The literature indicates that this paper type may result in an
> acidic/damaging pH. Is there another labeling paper that is recommended for
> use?
>
> A number of specimens have been preserved using Ward's solution. Are there
> any potential concerns or treatment procedures needed before transferring
> these specimens into ethanol (75%)? Secondly, is there any reason to worry
> about the condition of cleared and stained specimens, assuming they are
> still submerged in fluid?
>
> Thanks in advance for the advice!
>
>
>
> Jade Keehn and James Simmons
> Assistant Museum Curators
> Museum of Natural History
> University of Nevada, Reno
>
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