[NHCOLL-L:1534] RE: fish scale collection

[Simmons, John E]

Jess,
Silicone is neither archival nor easily removable from slides.  When it
fails, it will be a mess to remove and replace.  I am curious as to why you
want to use two slides instead of a slide and a cover slip?  Cover slips are
thinner and cause less distortion than slides when viewing through a
microscope.  

There are no truly permanent adhesives for microscope slides, but there are
some that are better than others.  One of the most popular--Permount--has a
high failure rate after a mere 15 or 20 years.  I recommend using a good
quality Canada balsam.  You can build up a ring of Canada balsam to
accommodate the depth of the scale.  It does yellow eventually, but when it
discolors to the point of interfering with the slide, it is reversible and
replaceable.  Even when it yellows, it rarely fails as an adhesive if you
keep it in a good storage environment and store the slides properly (flat
instead of on their sides or ends).  Another option is to use the glass
slides with a depression in them to hold the scale (although this can also
present unwanted distortion when viewing from the back side).

Depending on the size of the scales and how you plan to use them, there are
other options as well, such as small Mylar envelopes to hold loose scales.
How do you intend to use the scales?  Do you need them mounted on slides?
What size range do you intend to have?

Hope this helps,
John

John E. Simmons
Collection Manager, Natural History Museum
and
Coordinator, Historical Administration and Museum Studies Program
University of Kansas
Dyche Hall
1345 Jayhawk Boulevard
Lawrence, Kansas 66045-7561
Phone 785-864-4508
FAX 785-864-5335
jsimmons at ku.edu


-----Original Message-----
From: Jessica Rosales [mailto:rosales at MAIL.UTEXAS.EDU]
Sent: Monday, March 18, 2002 8:53 AM
To: NHCOLL-L at lists.yale.edu
Subject: [NHCOLL-L:1531] fish scale collection


Good morning,

Does anyone have experience with maintaining a fish scale collection?  We 
would like to start one here, but would much rather get it right from the 
start.  Our thoughts were to place the scales, when dry, between two slides 
and seal the edges with silicone.  Any thoughts?

Thanks,

-Jess


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jessica Rosales
Collections Manager
Texas Natural History Collections
Texas Memorial Museum of Science and History
University of Texas at Austin
10100 N. Burnet Road, PRC 176/R4000
Austin, TX  78758-4445   USA
512.471.8845 voice
512.471.9775 fax