[Nhcoll-l] Information about fluid collections

Fri Aug 18 05:59:12 EDT 2017

Hi Juliette,

Firstly, it is wise to make up the Kaiserling III preservative well in advance before use, this will help to avoid some of the air bubble issues.  Make sure that the glycerine is thoroughly mixed in, there should be no Schleren optic effects!  
Ideally to move specimens from alcohol to K III does involve a large osmotic pressure change and I am always advising against it.  I have never preserved medusae or other jelly forms in it, however some jewel anemones (Corynactis viridis) survived well but these were collected fresh, narcotised and taken through the Kaiserling process!

I would suggest, that if this process really must go ahead that you try a few experimental runs first.  It will take up much of your time, bearing in mind that you will have to take each specimen down a hydration ladder to water and then into a KIII solution with only half the glycerine content so that the specimens can accommodate to this stage - they will float at first and then gradually sink, then they can be transferred to the next stage - this will happened all the way down the ladder of alcohols - 60%, 40%, 20%, 10%, water, half-strength KIII then normal KIII.  You will need a small tank for each stage - the clip-top plastic ‘really useful’ boxes are good for this and you will need one of those kitchen serving/straining ladles with holes in it to transfer the specimens gently through each stage!

I have had no experience of preserving DNA in KIII, I have always used 96% ethanol.  For the formula I have always used: Kaiserling III (preservative): Potassium acetate (200g), glycerol (300), distilled water (900).  There are many later variations and modifications including Lunquist’s.

Thymol is a useful additive to prevent fungal growth and the camphor is good although I have never tried this modification before.  Normally the pot. acetate will be enough to prevent germination of fungal spores but it’s always best to take precautions, especially with so many specimens.

Feel free to come back to me and the List if you have any issues, further questions.

With all good wishes, Simon.

Simon Moore MIScT, RSci, FLS, ACR
Conservator of Natural Sciences and Cutlery Historian,
www.natural-history-conservation.com 

> On 18 Aug 2017, at 08:50, Galpin Juliette <juliette.galpin at lehavre.fr> wrote:
> 
> Hi Everybody,
>  
> Thank you all for answering me so quickly !
>  
> Actually, the collection needs to be moved into safer fluids, for its own conservation (the fluids are evaporating), and because it will be moved to a new storage, that need to match new standards (no flammable or toxic products allowed, no evaporation of products, keeping the possibility of studying DNA, etc.). It is compulsory from our guardianship and funders of our new storage location. And Kaiserling seemed like a good idea, because it matches all these constraints. But I completely understand all the reservations you have regarding this operation and the harm it could do to specimens. That is why I need all the help possible to do this operation, keeping the risks to a minimum. 
>  
> Simon, you assumed well, we have many marine organisms like fishes, shellfishes, cnidarians, sponges, ascidians, and so on... But we also have mammals, reptilians and amphibians for instance. Will Kaiserling be fine for these specimens too ? Do they need more precautions ?
>  
> How could I do to avoid having these bubbles due to changing in osmotic pressure ? I don’t know how to measure this osmotic pressure and watch out for its changeover… And we don’t know in which fluid the collections are currently preserved, neither the way they were fixed.
>  
> Could you help me set the better process to do this changeover with all precautions needed please ? For a changeover into ethanol, I’ve seen that the specimens must have been adapted to their new fluid by successive baths of ethanol at different concentrations. Do I have to follow the same process with Kaiserling ?
>  
> I will only use the preservative fluid, because all the specimens have already been fixed (I guess).
> For the formula of the preservative solution, I’ve found that it is 900g Potassium acetate ; 6L Water ; 3,6L glycerol ; and some thymol. What are the good proportions for the mixture then ?! Thank for the recipe and the way to do it, but is it the same with thymol than with camphor ?
>  
> Again, thank you very much to all of you for helping me to implement this delicate operation.
> Kind regards.
>  
> Juliette Galpin
>  
> 
> 
>  
> Juliette,
> You have asked a very interesting question. I agree with the responses from my colleagues concerning the caution about osmotic pressure and the kinds of specimens involved. Could you please tell us (1) what kinds of specimens are in the collection (marine invertebrates or vertebrates, fresh water or terrestrial invertebrates or vertebrates?) and (2) the reason why you are considering changing the preserving to Kaiserling? Kaiserling has been mostly used for anatomical specimens in an attempt to preserve the color of the tissues, and as far as I know it has not been used on a very wide variety of natural history specimens.
> 
> Sincerely,
> John
>  
> John E. Simmons
> Museologica
> 128 E. Burnside Street
> Bellefonte, Pennsylvania 16823-2010
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> and
> Adjunct Curator of Collections
> Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery
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> and
> Instructor, Museum Studies
> School of Library and Information Science
> Kent State University
>  
>  
> On Wed, Aug 16, 2017 at 9:09 AM, Dirk Neumann <dirk.neumann at zsm.mwn.de <mailto:dirk.neumann at zsm.mwn.de>> wrote:
> 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>
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