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--></style></head><body lang=NL link=blue vlink=purple style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>Dear Claire,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>Glycerol is a trihydroxy sugar alcohol with a highly polar surface area that mixes very well with water and therefore has no affinity to low-polar aromatic oils like </span><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'>methyl salicylate and benzyl benzoate. They simply do not mix. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'>If you want to properly transfer it to glycerol you first must remove the oils in the tissue by transferring the specimen through acetone baths which could create other unwanted morphological changes to the tissue. To my opinion, it would be best to transfer it back to the original fluid being according to the catalogue a mixture of methyl salicylate / benzyl benzoate (5:4).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'>Kind regards,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'>Dries<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>--<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>Andries J. van Dam (director)<br><br>Alcomon Company<br>Leliestraat 54<br>2313BH Leiden<br>Netherlands<br><br>Tel: +31615676299<br>E-mail: <u><a href="mailto:ajvandam@alcomon.com"><span style='color:#0563C1'>ajvandam@alcomon.com</span></a> <br></u>Website: <u><a href="http://www.alcomon.com/"><span style='color:#0563C1'>http://www.alcomon.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></u></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><img border=0 width=181 height=41 style='width:1.8854in;height:.427in' id="Afbeelding_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01DC4E43.DBA08DE0" alt=AlcomonLogo></span><span style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US style='mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'>Van: </span></b><span style='font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'>Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu> namens Claire Smith <claire.smith@reading.ac.uk><br><b>Datum: </b>woensdag 5 november 2025 om 10:18<br><b>Aan: </b>Natural History Collections Listserv <nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu><br><b>Onderwerp: </b>[Nhcoll-l] Restoring a damaged transparent specimen<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'>Hi everyone, <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'> With apologies for cross-posting, I'm looking for some advice about working with a damaged specimen. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'>It's a newborn monkey that was originally an alizarin transparency, prepared by the Spalteholz technique (<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/s0940-9602(01)80020-0">https://doi.org/10.1016/s0940-9602(01)80020-0</a>), with our catalogue listing the preservative as "Methyl salicylate 5: benzyl benzoate 4".<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id=Signature><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'>In 2008 it was apparently in poor condition with crystal deposition, and it was transferred into 100% glycerol. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'>Currently, a lipid layer has formed at the top of the fluid, which is also cloudy - presumably also with suspended lipids. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'>The tissue is no longer transparent. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'>My questions are: <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'>Is it possible to make the tissues transparent again? (If so, how?!)<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'>Is it best to keep the specimen in glycerol, but dilute it to a more appropriate concentration? <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><p class=elementtoproof><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'>Many thanks,</span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=elementtoproof><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Claire<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div id=Signature><p class=elementtoproof style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#323130'> </span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=elementtoproof style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#323130'>*******</span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=elementtoproof style='background:white'><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#323130'>Survey: Fluid Preservation Methods in Biological Collections</span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=elementtoproof style='background:white'><u><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:blue'><a href="https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/reading/fluid-preservation-methods-in-biological-collections">https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/reading/fluid-preservation-methods-in-biological-collections</a></span></u><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=elementtoproof style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#323130'> </span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=elementtoproof style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#323130'>*******</span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=elementtoproof style='background:white'><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#323130'>Claire Smith </span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#323130'>(she/her), AFHEA </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=elementtoproof style='background:white'><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#323130'>Graduate Teaching Assistant: </span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#323130'>Tuesdays and Wednesdays</span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=elementtoproof style='background:white'><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#323130'>PhD Researcher: </span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#323130'>Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays</span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=elementtoproof style='background:white'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=elementtoproof style='background:white'><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#323130'>Cole Museum of Zoology</span></b><o:p></o:p></p><p class=elementtoproof style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#323130'>University of Reading</span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=elementtoproof style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#323130'><br></span><u><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:blue'><a href="mailto:claire.smith@reading.ac.uk" target="_blank">claire.smith@reading.ac.uk</a></span></u><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#0070C0'> </span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=elementtoproof style='background:white'><u><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:blue;background:white'><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/wetconservatrix">www.linkedin.com/in/wetconservatrix</a></span></u><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#0070C0'><br></span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'>Social media: @wetconservatrix</span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=elementtoproof style='background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black'> </span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal>_______________________________________________ Nhcoll-l mailing list Nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/nhcoll-l _______________________________________________ NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of natural history collections to ensure their continuing value to society. See http://www.spnhc.org for membership information. Advertising on NH-COLL-L is inappropriate. <o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>