<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">If the specimens have been in glycerol for a long time and are in good condition, there is no reason to change them. Switching soft tissues to alcohol will cause some dehydration and shrinkage, so I recommend keeping them in glycerol.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">My preference is to get smooth-sided vials (commonly called shell vials) and use polyester fiber to make the plugs, rather than cotton. The advantages of polyester are that it does not absorb grease like cotton does, does not yellow with age, and it has better regain (meaning it does not become permanently compressed like cotton does). You can find polyester fiber for sale in fabric stores, it is used as pillow stuffing.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">Do not put so many vials in the jar that it is hard to find the one you want, and include a label listing all of the vials. Use a good screw-top glass jar with a flexible polypropylene lid and the system will work well.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">--John</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br clear="all"></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif">John E. Simmons<br>Writer and Museum Consultant</span></font></div><div dir="ltr"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif">Museologica<br><i>and</i><br>Associate Curator of Collections<br>Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery<br>Penn State University<br><i>and</i><br>Investigador Asociado, Departamento de Ornitologia<br>Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima</span></font><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, Feb 24, 2022 at 10:22 PM Haff, Tonya (NCMI, Crace) <<a href="mailto:Tonya.Haff@csiro.au">Tonya.Haff@csiro.au</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
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<p class="MsoNormal">Hello all,<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am wondering if any of you would give me your thoughts on what the best way to keep very small soft parts (I’m thinking bat bacula and bird tongues) that have been stored in very small vials in glycerol. I would like to store them together
in larger jars filled with preservation fluid, with wadding instead of lids on each vial, both for space reasons and to prevent evaporation (the glycerol is pretty good but I have found a few that have dried out). My feeling is that if I do this, the preservation
fluid should remain glycerol, but as I haven’t done this before I thought I’d ask. Is there reason to switch the preservation fluid to something else, like 70% ETOH (which would involve changing the fluid in each vial), or is it ok to simply top the larger
jar with glycerol? Any thoughts appreciated.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Cheers,<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Tonya <u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>-------------------------------------------------<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Dr. Tonya M. Haff<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Collection Manager<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Australian National Wildlife Collection<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>CSIRO<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
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