[Nhcoll-l] Information about fluid collections

Wed Aug 16 09:09:48 EDT 2017

Dear Simon,
dear Galpin,

the baseline for changing the holding fluid is: Do not change, unless 
there is a good reason to do so.

 From a collection care point of view, fire protection or toxicity 
problems - for me - would not be a proper reason if in the long run the 
new condition would harm the integrity of the specimen.

Also, because of the acidity, I would refrain of changing the fluid 
unless there is a real good reason to do so (maybe part of the 
collection, or specific specimens from a lot containing several 
specimens for a specific research purpose).

Btw:
Mahoney (1973) Laboratory Techniques in Zoology gives the following 
recipes (Pick-Judah formula)
(Simon, please comment if this wouldn't make sense)

KI (fixative)
Potassium acetate      42.5g
Potassium nitrate        22.5g
Distilled water               1.6 L
40% formalin solution 400ml (full strength)

Salt are dissolved in hot water, formalin is added to the cooled solution

KII (colour reviver)
EtOH      96 %

KIII (perservative)
Sodium      acetate      36.0g
Distilled water          120.0ml
Camphor                      5.0ml (4% EtOH solution)
Glycerol                        72ml

(The solution is made by adding the ingredients in the order given. At 
first, the camphor is thrown out of solution but redissolves on allowing 
the solution to stand)

All the best
Dirk

Am 16.08.2017 um 13:19 schrieb Simon Moore:
> Hi Juliette,
>
> No problem about getting in touch.
>
> You mention re-packing a collection.  Is this collection to be moved 
> or stored or did you mean that is needs to be moved into safer fluids? 
>  The latter is indicative of a move for museums with such collections 
> to be rid of fluids that are flammable and/or toxic.
>
> There are various concerns about this as the condition of the 
> specimens is what should be the real issue here.  As you are based at 
> LeHavre I am assuming that you should have many marine organisms in 
> fluids?  For many such organisms a move to Kaiserling III will be fine 
> but you have to bear in mind that the osmotic pressure of KIII is 
> considerably different to that of ethanol, even formalin.  For 
> delicate organisms (medusae, siphonophores) this changeover has to be 
> carried out very carefully or you will end up with air bubbles inside 
> them that appear when binary/tertiary azeotropes are used - miscible 
> fluids of different specific gravities.  You also need to bear in mind 
> that Kaiserling’s technique was devised mainly for anatomy specimens 
> as the preservative is good for maintaining the colour of blood and 
> organs that filter it (liver, kidney).  I have successfully 
> colour-preserved marine organisms that were freshly collected and 
> using the 3 stage technique - fixation, colour enhancement and 
> preservation.
> All of this may sound rather negative but I am just warning you to be 
> careful with the changeover.  I would also post the enquiry onto the 
> conservation forum: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu 
> <mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu> to see if anyone else is doing this 
> and to see if they have any concerns.
>
> The formula for the Kaiserling method is: Kaiserling I (fixative): 40% 
> formaldehyde (400) [tlv 3], potassium acetate (50 g), potassium 
> nitrate (30 g), distilled water (1000).
>
> Kaiserling II (enhancer/colour restorer): 80-90% ethanol. Use until 
> colour returns if it has chemically ‘faded’ in fixative – may be 
> minutes for smaller specimens. Some like to add some potassium 
> hydrosulphite if being stored for more than a few days.
>
> Kaiserling III (preservative): Potassium acetate (200g), glycerol 
> (300), distilled water (900).
>
>
> 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=DwMFaQ&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=LpYc_Z_iN1KRw0hheb3x6-8MJUMu482qfHowpGYJqwc&m=MxsNB9i59J38j_fgIMI_hJkw5F2sMUmH0Nl7mDt2jiY&s=Q68m7UHxI0JOb8NE7fTQh74O6YrzMiczUotWcxiwwDk&e=> 
>
>
>
>
>
>> On 16 Aug 2017, at 10:37, Galpin Juliette <juliette.galpin at lehavre.fr 
>> <mailto:juliette.galpin at lehavre.fr>> wrote:
>>
>> Hello,
>> My name is Juliette Galpin and I’m in charge of all the scientific 
>> collection in the Natural History Museum of Le Havre, in France.
>> I’m following the advice of Judith White, in Natural History Museum, 
>> who told me to get in touch with you. Hope you won’t mind.
>> We have a collection which is maintained in fluids, and we want to 
>> repack it. The specimens are currently in liquid as Alcool, Ethanol 
>> and a bit of Formol. And we wish to recondition it in Kaiserling III, 
>> which is a mixture of glycerin and acetate of potassium without any 
>> formol. I don’t know if you know, or use, this liquid.
>> I’ve found some of your papers about collections in fluids, but there 
>> is few literature about Kaiserling precisely, and I don’t really know 
>> how to create this liquid correctly.
>> Do you know this product, or someone who might know and use it, or 
>> maybe know the process to adapt the specimens to their new 
>> conservation fluid ?
>> Thank you very much for your answer and all the help you can provide me,
>> Regards.
>> Juliette Galpin
>> <image001.jpg>
>> *Juliette GALPIN*
>> In charge of Natural history Collections
>> Natural history Museum
>> Ville du Havre
>> juliette.galpin at lehavre.fr <mailto:juliette.galpin at lehavre.fr>
>> Tél. : 02 35 54 75 89 / 02.32.74.79.90
>
>
>
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