[Nhcoll-l] turpentine-alcohol solutions

[John E Simmons]

 Emily,
Turpentine has two historic uses in fluid collections, as a preservative
(usually diluted with alcohol) and as a component of jar seals. Its use
goes back quite a ways. In 1664 the proceedings of the Royal Society record
that Boyle had used a mixture of spirit of wine (ethyl alcohol) and
turpentine to preserve some specimens, and turpentine was one of the fluid
preservatives mentioned by Grew in the Royal Society collection at Gresham
College [“A young CHICKEN emboweled and put into rectified Oil of
Turpentine..." (Grew 1681:58)]. Later, it was often used for anatomical
specimens, and in mercury injections.

There are three courses of action you could take:
1-Continue to top the container up with the 50:50 mixture of alcohol and
turpentine (but my guess is that the concentration of the alcohol used is
unknown?)
2-Top up with 70% ethanol.
3-Change the preservative to 70% ethanol.

If the specimens have been in the solution for a very long time, my
inclination would be to leave them as they are (in the mixture) or, if you
don't want to get involved with mixing up a special preservative for these
specimens, top up the existing fluid with 70% ethanol.

Simon Moore may have other suggestions.

--John

John E. Simmons
Writer and Museum Consultant
Museologica
*and*
Investigador Asociado, Departamento de Ornitologia
Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima


On Tue, Apr 9, 2024 at 6:39 PM Emily M. Braker <emily.braker at colorado.edu>
wrote:

> Greetings All,
>
>
>
> We just surfaced a couple of vials of lemming GI tracts preserved in “50%
> turpentine, 50% alcohol” that were stored in a drawer alongside the
> associated skins and skulls in our mammal collection. A database check
> reveals that these specimens were originally fluid-preserved, then later
> prepared as skins and skulls in 1953, though the GI tracts appear to have
> been saved in the original solution.
>
>
>
> Has anyone worked with a turpentine/alcohol solution before and have
> advice on how we should approach transitioning to ethanol and/or topping
> up? The fluid level is extremely low in the vials.
>
>
>
> Thanks!
>
>
>
> Emily
>
>
>
> Emily Braker
>
> Vertebrate Collections Manager, Zoology Section
>
> University of Colorado Museum of Natural History
>
> 265 UCB, Bruce Curtis Building
>
> Boulder, CO 80309-0218
>
> Phone: 303-492-8466
>
> http://www.colorado.edu/cumuseum/research-collections/vertebrates
>
>
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