[Nhcoll-l] Vial jar system

Thu Mar 17 06:24:35 EDT 2016

I am enjoying this. When I started working at ZMUC 38 years ago, one of the favorite subjects at meetings in the Invertebrate Department was the question of whether to put tubes upside-down or not. The discussion could last for an incredibly long time, and if the moderator of the meeting tried to get a conclusion, you only had to nudge one or the other of the dedicated combatants slightly to get them started energetically again.

There were actually people running around in the corridors, lobbying for their viewpoint between meetings.

We never reached a conclusion. Crustaceologists and others with similar problems simply don't like to get their animal's  legs and antennae entangled in cotton wool, however good the argument from malacologists or tunicate curators for the upside-down idea may be.

Cheers, Tom

Tom Schiøtte

Collection manager, Echinodermata & Mollusca
Natural History Museum of Denmark (Zoology)
Universitetsparken 15
DK 2100 Copenhagen OE

+45 35 32 10 48
TSchioette at snm.ku.dk

From: nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Simon Moore
Sent: 16. marts 2016 19:05
To: Alexandra Snyder
Cc: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Vial jar system

I am just going to add my pennyworth but relating to tubes 'right' way up or upside down?  I have noted both from the pics that have been circulating.

I don't wish to start a huge debate on this but I have always favoured the upside down. Reason is that as the alcohol (presumed) level slowly falls over time then the levels in the tubes tends to follow a bit behind the jar level if they're right way up but if they're upside down then they stay full until the jar is empty.  OK then they drain off fairly rapidly BUT presuming that someone finds them in time then all they have to do is fill up the jar (for upside-downers) if there is still a bit of alcohol left in the bottom, but if the tubes are part-empty (right way up) then each tube has to be re-filled, bearing in mind that the contents have also auto-diluted to a lower percentage.

So there we are!

With all good wishes, Simon.

Simon Moore MIScT, RSci, FLS, ACR
Conservator of Natural Sciences and Cutlery Historian,
www.natural-history-conservation.com<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.natural-2Dhistory-2Dconservation.com&d=AwMF-g&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=XjLmfkMlaPl84fvV73xnDMNiziMQ1faP4pM_M-b7v7I&s=G5iIwmxI-XTaX-WYWh1uIjRiMUyrzFEqk5343xIXLHI&e=>

On 16 Mar 2016, at 15:11, Alexandra Snyder <amsnyder at unm.edu<mailto:amsnyder at unm.edu>> wrote:

These vial jar systems work for accessing individual collections (up to 40) only if each jar is assigned a unique number.  In the MSB fishes database, each cataloged collection that is in a vial jar is assigned an alphanumeric, up to 40 individuals per jar.  (I have an automatic numbering system built into my cataloging program that tracks the vial jar numbers so that there are no duplications for collections in 70% ethanol.  The collections maintained in 5% buffered formalin and 95% ethanol are manually assigned vial jar numbers.)  The attached picture shows individual vial jars labeled with unique vial jar numbers.

Regarding the comment that to look for a single collection in a vial jar is cumbersome and requires going to the fumehood I disagree with this being an issue.  Anytime we pull a single collection from a vial jar, we do not do that in the collection room but rather in the lab with a specimen tray and forceps.  Opening collections in the collection room (ours is strictly for archives, not for specimen examination) runs the risk of losing small specimens as well as mishaps with glass jars and alcohol.

Extremely small larvae are double vialed.  Contained in many of our 8 dram vials in the system are .25 and 1 dram vials holding protolarval forms.  Small wads of cotton do not seem to interfere with these samples.

Again, I have used this system for many years and found that the trade off between access and long-term conservation is not hard.  The student curatorial assistants have pulled many of these collections for  loans, researchers , etc.  and have not found the system to be a burden.

*************************************
Alexandra M Snyder, Collections Manager-Fishes
Museum of Southwestern Biology MSC03-2020
University of New Mexico Albuquerque NM 87131
PH./FAX 505.277.6005     amsnyder at unm.edu<mailto:amsnyder at unm.edu>

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