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black, Nicholson's magenta, eosin, Picra carmine, gold, and nitrate of silver. 

 These would stain almost anything. Almost any of them could be used, 

 first one and then another. Mr. Groves then described the preparation of 

 the carmine stain and also the logwood stain, which he considered easy to 

 prepare, though some persons found it difficult. The aniline dyes were also 

 useful. It was necessary, however, to use some of the stains on perfectly 

 fresh material. The gold and nitrate of silver especially required the 

 specimen to be very fresh. If it was removed from the body more than 

 twenty minutes it was useless to use those stains. 



When the specimens were in water it was necessary to dehydrate them. 

 If good specimens were desired, it was necessary to use first weak alcohol, 

 then stronger. 



The next step was clearing the sections, but if they were to be mounted in 

 glycerine this process was not necessary. The best fluid for clearing was oil 

 of cloves for specimens intended to be mounted in balsam. 



In glycerine mounting absolute cleanliness was required. It was best to 

 transfer the section into dilute glycerine, then into stronger. He preferred 

 placing the object in a watch-glass, adding a few drops of glycerine now and 

 then, and keeping all under a glass shade for perhaps a fortnight. 



A knife shaped like a lancet, with the edges blunted, so as not to 

 cut the specimens, was very useful for moving sections from one fluid to 

 another. 



Mounted needles are best fixed in a quill. There was nothing equal to it. 

 A rigid handle for mounting needles was most objectionable. 



Mr. Groves then proceeded to mount sections in glycerine and also in 

 balsam in order to illustrate his remarks, and passed round the slides for the 

 inspection of the members. He then went on to remark that in mounting 

 from oil of cloves it was desirable to get rid of the oil as much as possible 

 by draining it off before pouring on the balsam. 



New Canada balsam was useless for mounting, while if dry it did not soak 

 thoroughly into the specimens. The balsam should be placed in an oven 

 until it was hard, and chipped easily, and then dissolved in benzole until 

 about the consistency of molasses. 



Briefly summarised the process was get the specimen as fresh as possible, 

 harden it well, cut as thin as necessary, stain it carefully, dry it out of water 

 with spirit, clear with oil of cloves, and mount in balsam. 



With very large sections it was inconvenient to use the lifter. In such 

 cases the cover glass could be used as a lifter. The cover glass being placed 

 on the solid glass cap and the specimen arranged on it, the balsam could be 

 poured on and the slip lowered on to the cover. Such a specimen could not 

 be examined safely for two or three weeks. 



All mounted specimens, especially those in fluid, should be kept flat, not on 

 edge. If kept in racked boxes, the boxes should be stood on end. He 

 strongly recommended that all slides should be labelled as soon as put up, as 

 even if the structure could be recognized they would probably forget the 

 animal it came from. 



