[NHCOLL-L:2438] RE: marcasite disease

[Neil Clark]

Dear Bob,

I have always been told that there is nothing that can be done. The best
things to do is make a replica and chuck it away. The advice I have been
given to increase the survival of the bone is to place it in a temperature
and humidity controlled environment.  However, I have inadvertantly come
across a possible solution to the problem. I coated an ichthyosaur, that was
suffering a little from the dreaded rot in its dorsal fin, with rubber latex
solution for a week (making a replica mould). The ammonia seems to have
stopped further rot, and the latex removed the powder. Ichthyosaur is now
healthy and in a stable environment.

Neil

************************************ 
Dr Neil DL Clark 
Curator of Palaeontology 
Hunterian Museum 
University of Glasgow 
GLASGOW 
G12 8QQ 
tel: +44 (0) 141 330 3599 
web sites: http://www.hunterian.gla.ac.uk/ 
http://www.scottishgeology.com/ 
http://www.geologyglasgow.org.uk/ 
http://www.hmag.gla.ac.uk/Neil/ 
********************************************* 



-----Original Message-----
From: owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu
[mailto:owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu]On Behalf Of Bob Glotzhober
Sent: 23 September 2004 20:32
To: NH Collection List Server (E-mail)
Subject: [NHCOLL-L:2426] marcasite disease


I noted a couple of years back some exchange on this list-server about some
fossil whale bones with a yellow dust that was reported to be marcasite
disease (formerly pyrite disease) from iron sulfides.

That note says nothing about what can be done to neutralize or at least slow
down this process.  In one of our collections of 18 bones of a mastodon, 2
of the pelvic bones appear to be suffering from macasite disease (as
described in the e-mails about the whale bones).  They and the others need
stablization anyway -- either with B76 or a solution of white glue (I hear
pros & cons to both of these).  The data with this set of bones is sparce,
but they appear to have been in our collections since the very early 1900s
and don't appear to have had any conservation done to them.  Who can advise
us on how to proceed with the macasite diseased specimens?  Why do two of 18
have it and not the rest from the same lot -- is this a question of where
they were resting in the ground in relation to a water supply or what?  None
of the remainder of our other mastodon specimens appear to have this disease
either.  At least not yet.

Bob

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------
Robert C. Glotzhober
Curator, Natural History		Phone  614/ 297-2633
Ohio Historical Society		Fax      614/ 297-2233
1982 Velma Avenue			E-mail   bglotzhober at ohiohistory.org
Columbus, Ohio  43211-2497
"Yet the environmental movement is wrong to emphasize preservation for the
sake of the wolves and the moose alone.  We should preserve wilderness for
our sake -- to remind us of our scale on this planet, to humble us, to
soothe us.  Nothing so civilizes humans as the wild."  
Nicholas D. Kristof, July 27, 2004 in a New York Times Syndicated "Forum"
article in the Columbus Dispatch


Visit the Website of the Ohio Historical Society at:   www.ohiohistory.org
(and our OnLine Collections Catalog at:
http://www.ohiohistory.org/occ/menu.htm )

Visit the website of the Ohio Odonata Society and learn about dragonflies
and damselflies in Ohio at:  http://mcnet.marietta.edu/~odonata/index.html
You can also learn about the new book, "Dragonflies and Damselflies of
Ohio."