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<p>Hey Luisa,</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>I agree with Andrew's suggestion of placing them on ethafoam. I
attached a picture of some similar specimens I rehoused for
storage in a school collection in Wuppertal. <br>
</p>
<p>As long as the tubes show no leakage and the specimens are
stable, I see no reason of rehousing them. They look very well
preserved to me. Of course you should keep an eye on the
cork/rubber stopper.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>... and to James question,</p>
<p>the method that John points out works very well. I did it using a
portable Raman-Spectrometer provided by Ocean Insight
(<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.oceaninsight.com/products/measurement--technique-bundles/raman-bundle-785/?qty=1">https://www.oceaninsight.com/products/measurement--technique-bundles/raman-bundle-785/?qty=1</a>)
during my master thesis on the conservation of fluid preserved
specimens. I encourage everyone who could afford such analysis to
try it out, we need a big spectral library of references so its
easier to identify possible preservation fluids ;>) <br>
</p>
<p>For more info get in contact with Sophie.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>All best,<br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">Am 28.02.22 um 23:06 schrieb John E
Simmons:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAF7GCDYs8mWz=gX9jCY-VwY4=7e9Hpa33n7VaXu85Q2=C3WMUg@mail.gmail.com">
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<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">A
recent paper has reported on the use of Raman spectrometry for
this purpose, but you need the right lab equipment to do use
it. Sophie Cersoy demonstrated the technique for us in Paris
during the 2018 fluid collection conference, and her paper is
now available:</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">S.
Cersoy, V. Rouchon, O. Belhadj, J. Cuisin, and M. Herbin.
2020. Noninvasive fluid identification: potential of
micro-Raman spectroscopy. <i>Collection Forum</i> 34(1):53-72<br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br>
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<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">--John</div>
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<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>
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<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Feb 28, 2022 at 5:00
PM James Bryant <<a href="mailto:jbandjb@live.com"
moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext">jbandjb@live.com</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">
<div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">Turtox! Fascinating,
John. I agree that it would be useful to know how old these
preparations might be. If they’ve remained stable this long,
I can’t imagine there are many other reasons to disturb
them.
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Perhaps I’ve just not recalling things, but are there
any instrumental methods to analyze the content of
solutions used in fluid collections without disturbing the
containers?</div>
<div><br>
<div>
James Bryant<br>
SOJOURN Science - Nature - Education<br>
Santa Fe, NM<br>
<a
href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-bryant-0598a940/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-bryant-0598a940/</a><br>
<br>
</div>
<div><br>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div>On Feb 28, 2022, at 1:00 PM, John E Simmons <<a
href="mailto:simmons.johne@gmail.com"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">simmons.johne@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:</div>
<br>
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small">This
technique was published in Turtox News 15(10:129
in October of 1937 in an anonymous short article
with the title "A method of displaying snakes."
The article includes a photograph of a rack
holding a number of long tubes with preserved
snakes stretched out in them, sent in by
"Professor John M. Frazier of the State Teachers
College, Hattiesburg Mississippi." Prof. Frazier
reported that "The snakes are injected with
formalin-alcohol preservative and are hardened
instraight and extended position. They are then
inserted in the glass tubes, the ends of which
are sealed with cork or rubber stoppers and
coated with paraffin after the tubes have been
completely filled with the preserving solution."</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small">There
were several "formalin-alcohol preservative"
mixtures that were popular at the time, the idea
being that you could reduce the two-steps of
fixation and preservation into one. These
mixtures were not successful because the
chemical actions of the formaldehyde and alcohol
interfered with each other, resulting in uneven
preservation as tissues were dehydrated. For
example, one mixture called for 95ml of 70% ETOH
and 5 ml of formaldehyde; another for 50 parts
alcohol, 5 parts formaldehyde, and 45 parts
water. It may also refer to what was more
commonly called FAA, which was formaldehyde,
alcohol, and acetic acid.</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small">You
cannot tell just by looking what solution the
specimens are in, but I expect it is alcohol due
to the discoloration (formaldehyde does not
extract lipids as readily as alcohol). However,
I would handle these as if they did contain
formaldehyde and take appropriate precautions
until you are sure. The problem with re-housing
the specimens will be that they are going to be
very stiff and it will be difficult to coil them
up without damaging them. If they are not
leaking, and you do not need to remove the
specimens for examination, I would leave them as
they are but house the tubes in a way that will
reduce the chance of breakage, such as in a box
or tray with half-rounds of cardboard to keep
them from rolling or touching each other. They
are an excellent example of an old technique
that was rather quaint.</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small">Any
idea when the specimens were preserved?</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default"
style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small">--John<br>
</div>
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style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small"><br
clear="all">
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<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>
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<br>
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<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Feb 28,
2022 at 2:02 PM Luisa Zamora Chavez <<a
href="mailto:lzamorac@asu.edu" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">lzamorac@asu.edu</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">
<div dir="ltr">Hello all,
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I have a few liquid-preserved snakes in
glass tubes that were donated to our
collections sometime ago. The tubes are
sealed shut using what appears to be plastic
corks, tape, and sealant. We're not sure if
the liquid they're in is formalin or
something other than ethanol. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>
<div>I am wondering if anyone has had any
experience with this sort of preservation
and any advice on how to transfer the
specimens to a more stable mode? We'd like
to keep some of them but fear the tubes
might break. We are unsure of what
liquid is typically used for this type of
preservation and would like to be as
prepared as possible so we can
safely remove them from the tubes (if that
is at all possible). I have included some
pictures of the specimens for reference.
Any help is greatly appreciated! </div>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Kind regards,</div>
<div>Luisa</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>
<div><br>
</div>
-- <br>
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr"><b>Luisa Zamora Chavez </b>
<div>Pronouns: she/they<br>
<div>
<div>Research Technician</div>
<div>Arizona State University
Biocollections</div>
<div><a
href="mailto:Lzamorac@asu.edu"
target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">Lzamorac@asu.edu</a></div>
<div>602-737-8357</div>
</div>
</div>
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