[Nhcoll-l] cleared and stained amphibians

Thu Oct 6 04:42:31 EDT 2022

Hi Tonya,

I have not added alcohol to alizarine transparencies before but use glycerine at 70% (diluted with deionised or RO water) and add a crystal of menthol rather than thymol (I don’t care for the odour of the latter!) as a fungus preventer as it certainly does grow in glycerine solutions, even at 60%*, given the chance (alcohol would discourage fungus though). The menthol forms a very thin film over the surface of the fluid and prevents fungal spored from’ germinating’.

* This was from a specimen prepared by an intern and then forgotten after she’d finished.  I found the specimen about 3 months later and there was a healthy growth of mould on the fluid surface and the specimen’s skin was being ‘burned’ by the fungal enzymes and producing irreversible black spots.  I changed the fluid for 70% glycerol and added a crystal of menthol and no more problems since.

With all good wishes, Simon

Simon Moore MIScT, RSci, FLS, ACR
Conservator of Natural Sciences and Cutlery Historian,

www.natural-history-conservation.com

> On 6 Oct 2022, at 07:48, Fabian Neisskenwirth <info at naturhistorische-konservierung.de> wrote:
> 
> Hey Tonya,
> 
> I would recommend to measure the density of the solution before assuming anything. With this you can calculate what percentage of strength you can expect. Usually this can vary very much from literature, to literature. And i really have never heard the use of ethanol in clearings. The ones I have made are all in plain glycerol and water and are preserved very well.
> 
> And I would not add any thymol, since if the solution is above 65% mold growth is inhibited. Why use poison if not needed...
> 
> 
> 
> All the best,
> 
> 
> 
> Am 06.10.22 um 04:32 schrieb Bentley, Andrew Charles:
>> Tonya
>>  
>> We have sometimes mixed different proportions of glycerin and 70% ethanol to make the liquid less viscous and thus reduce bubble formation in cavities of C&S specimens but otherwise use full strength glycerin for these specimens with a couple of crystals of thymol added to prevent mold growth.  The addition of 70% ethanol, as long as not too much, does not seem to affect these specimens in any adverse way – that we can tell.
>>  
>> Andy
>>  
>>     A  :             A  :             A  :
>>  }<(((_°>.,.,.,.}<(((_°>.,.,.,.}<)))_°>
>>     V                V                V
>> Andy Bentley
>> Ichthyology Collection Manager
>> University of Kansas
>> Biodiversity Institute
>> Dyche Hall
>> 1345 Jayhawk Boulevard
>> Lawrence, KS, 66045-7561
>> USA
>> 
>> Tel: (785) 864-3863
>> Fax: (785) 864-5335 
>> Email: abentley at ku.edu  
>> ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3093-1258
>> http://ichthyology.biodiversity.ku.edu
>>     A  :             A  :             A  :
>>  }<(((_°>.,.,.,.}<(((_°>.,.,.,.}<)))_°>
>>     V                V                V
>>  
>>  
>> From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> on behalf of "Haff, Tonya (NCMI, Crace)" <Tonya.Haff at csiro.au>
>> Date: Wednesday, October 5, 2022 at 6:13 PM
>> To: "nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu" <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
>> Subject: [Nhcoll-l] cleared and stained amphibians
>>  
>> Hello all,
>>  
>> We have some cleared and stained small frogs that are, I suspect, stored in a mixture of glycerine and ethanol. I have read in John’s Fluid Preservation book that some people use a mixture the two at a 1:1 ratio (but at what ETOH concentration I am not sure), but I wonder if any of you would share how you store similar specimens? Some of the jars need to be topped up, so I also wonder if it’s best to top up using a 1:1 ratio of glycerine to ethanol (given that’s what it *looks* like, ha ha), or remove all fluid and replace, or…? Thoughts, as usual, appreciated!
>>  
>> Cheers,
>>  
>> Tonya
>>  
>> -------------------------------------------------
>> Dr. Tonya M. Haff
>> Collection Manager
>> Australian National Wildlife Collection
>> CSIRO
>> +61(0)419569109
>> https://www.csiro.au/en/about/facilities-collections/collections/anwc
>>  
>> 
>> 
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