<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Emily,</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Turpentine
has two historic uses in fluid collections, as a preservative (usually
diluted with alcohol) and as a component of jar seals. Its use goes back
quite a ways. In 1664 the proceedings of the Royal Society record that
Boyle had used a mixture of spirit of wine (ethyl alcohol) and
turpentine to preserve some specimens, and turpentine was one of the
fluid preservatives mentioned by Grew in the Royal Society collection at
Gresham College [“A young CHICKEN emboweled and put into rectified Oil
of Turpentine..." (Grew 1681:58)]. Later, it was often used for
anatomical specimens, and in mercury injections.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)">There are three courses of action you could take:</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)">1-Continue
to top the container up with the 50:50 mixture of alcohol and
turpentine (but my guess is that the concentration of the alcohol used
is unknown?)</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)">2-Top up with 70% ethanol.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)">3-Change the preservative to 70% ethanol.<br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)">If
the specimens have been in the solution for a very long time, my
inclination would be to leave them as they are (in the mixture) or, if
you don't want to get involved with mixing up a special preservative for
these specimens, top up the existing fluid with 70% ethanol.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Simon Moore may have other suggestions.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)">--John</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br></div>
</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>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 Tue, Apr 9, 2024 at 6:39 PM Emily M. Braker <<a href="mailto:emily.braker@colorado.edu">emily.braker@colorado.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 class="msg-6766407773793253161">
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<p class="MsoNormal">Greetings All,<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We just surfaced a couple of vials of lemming GI tracts preserved in “50% turpentine, 50% alcohol” that were stored in a drawer alongside the associated skins and skulls in our mammal collection. A database check reveals that these specimens
were originally fluid-preserved, then later prepared as skins and skulls in 1953, though the GI tracts appear to have been saved in the original solution.
<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Has anyone worked with a turpentine/alcohol solution before and have advice on how we should approach transitioning to ethanol and/or topping up? The fluid level is extremely low in the vials.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks!<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Emily<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;color:rgb(127,127,127)">Emily Braker</span><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;color:rgb(127,127,127)">Vertebrate Collections Manager, Zoology Section</span><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;color:rgb(127,127,127)">University of Colorado Museum of Natural History</span><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;color:rgb(127,127,127)">265 UCB, Bruce Curtis Building</span><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;color:rgb(127,127,127)">Boulder, CO 80309-0218</span><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;color:rgb(127,127,127)">Phone: 303-492-8466</span><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:rgb(33,33,33)"><a href="http://www.colorado.edu/cumuseum/research-collections/vertebrates" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:9pt;color:rgb(5,99,193)">http://www.colorado.edu/cumuseum/research-collections/vertebrates</span></a></span><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
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