[Nhcoll-l] Old slides

Tue Jun 1 18:35:56 EDT 2021

not sure where this thread started, but before our slide scanning project we cleaned 50000t slides dating to the 1850s that were stored in nearly 1000 filthy boxes and cardboard trays or decades old plastic boxes.  Each slide was cleaned by our previous conservator and an army of undergrads and high schoolers; they used DI water and swabs only.  All are beautifully clean now.  However, and the conservators will be aghast - I clean my own balsam slides using commercial Windex and a wipe!

In handling all these, I have concluded the ONLY truly archival (150 plus years medium is Canada Balsam.  Of the many types of slides I have repaired/remounted, Balsam was the easiest.  Old CMCP-10 (lactic acid based) are easy to, IF you can find the specimen.  With this particular medium the clearing is so bad over time tiny appendages (mouthparts, etc.) literally disappear.

Eric A. Lazo-Wasem, Senior Collections Manager

Division of Invertebrate Zoology

Peabody Museum of Natural History

Yale University

170 Whitney Avenue

New Haven, CT 06520

________________________________
From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> on behalf of Mariana Di Giacomo <maru.digi at gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 1, 2021 2:14 PM
To: John E Simmons <simmons.johne at gmail.com>
Cc: NH-COLL listserv (nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu) <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Old slides

Hi Paul,

I worked on a microscope slides project at the Smithsonian NMNH in which I looked at over 400k slides and did tests on mounting media, so I can help with many of your questions.
We can chat more on the side about specifics if you want, just email me.

Basically, as long as slides are horizontal, they will survive better (if you have them in slide boxes, just store the boxes vertically).
For cleaning, start with brushes and cosmetic sponges (I like these but there are other places to buy them as well: https://www.universityproducts.com/latex-free-hydrophilic-sponges.html<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.universityproducts.com%2Flatex-free-hydrophilic-sponges.html&data=04%7C01%7Ceric.lazo-wasem%40yale.edu%7Caec7539615b54c245b3008d9252920b1%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C1%7C637581680846104979%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=9YPgRE4zKcQxRYr0%2FjxPaV9hs66KTcellYxuAkDEcm0%3D&reserved=0>). If dust and grime are stubborn, you can use a cotton swab with deionized water, but you must blot the swab first so it is barely moist and not soaking wet; and avoid touching any paper labels.
About the mounting media, some of them are easier to remount than others, but that is on a case-by-case basis because people have used everything you can think of to mount slides, so if you send me some pictures, I can try to identify them and give you some suggestions.

Best,
Mariana

Mariana Di Giacomo, PhD
Natural History Conservator, Yale Peabody Museum
Associate Editor, Collection Forum, SPNHC
Secretary/Communications APOYOnline

El mar, 1 jun 2021 a las 12:29, John E Simmons (<simmons.johne at gmail.com<mailto:simmons.johne at gmail.com>>) escribió:
Paul,
A couple references on this topic that I have found very useful (particularly Neuhaus et al):

Moore, S. J. 1979. Restoration of the Quekett Microscope Slide Collection. Microscopy 33:489-494.

Neuhaus, B., T. Schmid, and J. Riedel. 2017. Collection management and study of microscope slides: storage, profiling, deterioration, restoration procedures, and general recommendations. Zootaxa 4322(1):1-173.

--John

John E. Simmons
Writer and Museum Consultant
Museologica
and
Associate Curator of Collections
Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery
Penn State University
and
Investigador Asociado, Departamento de Ornitologia
Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima

On Tue, Jun 1, 2021 at 12:22 PM Callomon,Paul <prc44 at drexel.edu<mailto:prc44 at drexel.edu>> wrote:

Folks,

Can anyone recommend how-to guides to assessing and triaging antique microscope slides? I have a ton of them to deal with right now. I need to know how best to clean and store them, how to revive (if possible) hardened fixatives, etc. These are mostly polychaete and other worm samples, including sections and jaw parts, and are anything from 50 to 140 years old.

Paul Callomon

Collection Manager, Malacology and General Invertebrates

________________________________

Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University

1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia PA 19103-1195, USA
prc44 at drexel.edu<mailto:prc44 at drexel.edu> Tel 215-405-5096 - Fax 215-299-1170

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