[NHCOLL-L:5873] Re: Curation Tactic Inquiries

Tue Mar 6 06:47:34 EST 2012

... credits go to the colleagues in Berlin (and especially Birger 
Neuhaus), as they shared knowledge obtained during their project on the 
restoration of the wet collections in several workshops. Hopefully we 
are able to share this information in an English publication soon, so 
that more can gain from these valuable results ...

Dirk

Am 06.03.2012 11:07, schrieb Couteaufin at aol.com:
> Dear All,
> I would agree with Dirk in that the staining, now diluted, looks like 
> picric acid base as found in Bouin's fix.  There is another fixative 
> known as Alcoholic Bouin or Dubosq-Brasil's fixative which might have 
> been another possibility for the orriginal fixative.
> As to the spicules problem, I would put all of the vials, with nylon 
> lids, into a larger container to prevent evaporation.  This technique 
> I have been using for about 20 years but not with spicules admittedly 
> and Dirk's suggestion may be better, although it seems rather more 
> labour intensive.
> With all good wishes, Simon
>
> Simon Moore MIScT, FLS, ACR,
> Conservator of Natural Sciences,
>
> www.natural-history-conservation.com 
> <http://www.natural-history-conservation.com/>
> www.pocket-fruit-knives.info <http://www.pocket-fruit-knives.info/>
>
> http://uk.linkedin.com/in/naturalsciencespecimenconserve
> In a message dated 06/03/2012 08:16:45 GMT Standard Time, 
> Dirk.Neumann at zsm.mwn.de writes:
>
>     Dear Kathy, Phyllis
>
>     this definitely looks like Bouins fixation. It might be possible that
>     the specimens (or part of the originally Bouins fixed specimens) have
>     been transferred into an other preservative/ethanol, which results
>     in a
>     more or less (faintly) stained preservative due to Bouins dissolving
>     from these specimens.
>
>     For the spicules, you could either place high quality plastic vials
>     inside the jar containing the corresponding specimens to avoid
>     evaporation losses. Especially cheap plastic vials and designed vials
>     designed for cryogenic storage tend to have massive evaporation
>     problems
>     at ambient temperatures. Other possibility would be storage in
>     borosilicate glass tubes and close tubes with cotton-stoppers wrapped
>     with Japanese tissue paper. Medical cotton following DIN 61 640-A
>     should
>     be preferred as this cotton does not include any additives. This
>     method
>     is recommended by the colleagues from the Museum of Natural
>     History in
>     Berlin.
>
>     This and further recommendations have been published by Birger
>     Neuhaus
>     Et al.  in an project report recently, however results are currently
>     available only in German @
>     http://193.175.110.9/hornemann/german/epubl_txt/2012Neuhaus_KUR.pdf
>
>     Soda lime glass tubes have a very reactive alkaline surface and
>     hence it
>     should be avoided to place tiny / delicate specimens in such tubes
>     because of the bad object / tube surface ratio.
>
>     Hope this helps
>
>     Dirk
>
>
>
>     Am 06.03.2012 01:46, schrieb Phyllis Sun:
>     > HERE YOU GOOOOOOO
>     >
>     >
>     > Greetings,
>     >
>     > My name is Kathy and I'm a curatorial manager at the Natural History
>     > Museum of LA County at the Marine Biodiversity Center. While going
>     > through and re-curating older sections of our collections, I ran
>     > across two rather odd occurrences and am seeking some advice.
>     >
>     > The first is this bright lime green solution in a number of jars
>     > preserving specimens. At first, I thought it might be Bouins, but
>     > Bouins tends to be more yellow based while this is radioactive
>     green.
>     > Does anybody have any idea what liquid is being used? Perhaps Bouins
>     > mixed with something? The data on the jars are not that informative,
>     > only containing either a station number or species name. Some
>     > specimens found have been zooplankton, parasitic isopods, and
>     > euphausiid frags, but there's no real pattern. A picture of one
>     of the
>     > jars is attached.
>     >
>     > My second question regards sponges. We had a visiting scientist did
>     > some research work on some sponges we have. He separated the
>     spicules
>     > entirely from the sponge and preserved them in a tiny 2mL plastic
>     > screw-top vials. The vials contain only the spicules themselves, no
>     > tissue at all. The problem is the alcohol levels recedes rather
>     > quickly in the 2mL vials and I'm wary of putting them in a
>     > cotton-stopped glass vials since there's a chance the spicules will
>     > get stuck in the cotton. Does anybody know of a better procedure?
>     >
>     > Please let me know, I'd appreciate any help or advice.
>     >
>     > Best,
>     >
>     > Kathy Omura
>     >
>     >
>     >
>
>
>     -- 
>     Dirk Neumann
>
>     Tel: 089 / 8107-111
>     Fax: 089 / 8107-300
>     email: Dirk.Neumann(a)zsm.mwn.de
>
>     Postanschrift:
>
>     Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns
>     Zoologische Staatssammlung München
>     Dirk Neumann, Sektion Ichthyologie / DNA-Labor
>     Münchhausenstr. 21
>     81247 München
>
>     Besuchen Sie unsere Sammlung:
>     http://www.zsm.mwn.de/ich/
>
>     ---------
>
>     Dirk Neumann
>
>     Tel: +49-89-8107-111
>     Fax: +49-89-8107-300
>     email: Dirk.Neumann(a)zsm.mwn.de
>
>     postal address:
>
>     Bavarian Natural History Collections
>     The Bavarian State Collection of Zoology
>     Dirk Neumann, Section Ichthyology / DNA-Lab
>     Muenchhausenstr. 21
>     81247 Munich (Germany)
>
>     Visit our section at:
>     http://www.zsm.mwn.de/ich/
>

-- 
Dirk Neumann

Tel: 089 / 8107-111
Fax: 089 / 8107-300
email: Dirk.Neumann(a)zsm.mwn.de

Postanschrift:

Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns
Zoologische Staatssammlung München
Dirk Neumann, Sektion Ichthyologie / DNA-Labor
Münchhausenstr. 21
81247 München

Besuchen Sie unsere Sammlung:
http://www.zsm.mwn.de/ich/

---------

Dirk Neumann

Tel: +49-89-8107-111
Fax: +49-89-8107-300
email: Dirk.Neumann(a)zsm.mwn.de

postal address:

Bavarian Natural History Collections
The Bavarian State Collection of Zoology
Dirk Neumann, Section Ichthyology / DNA-Lab
Muenchhausenstr. 21
81247 Munich (Germany)

Visit our section at:
http://www.zsm.mwn.de/ich/

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