•THEAICP^COPE 



:ated 



Vol. XII. 



WASHINGTON, D. C, OCTOBER, 1892. 



No. 10. 



Grlycerine Mounting.* 



C. E. McCLUNG, PH. G., 



COLUMBUS, KANS. 



The use of glycerine as a mounting medium is not as universal 

 as its qualities merit it should be. The convenience with which 

 a balsam mount is made proves a temptation which many micros- 

 copists cannot resist, and as a result, numerous mounts are en- 

 tirely spoiled by consigning the object to a medium not adapted 

 for its reception. There is a fitness in all things, and the saying 

 is as applicable to microscopy as to other departments of work. 

 Balsam has its use and glycerine its application, and the two 

 should be confined to their respective provinces. Frei says : 

 " What balsam is to dry tissues, glycerine is to moist ones," and 

 the saying might be made even more emphatic. 



Glycerine has the advantage of being non-volatile, colorless, 

 slightly affected by changes of temperature and of having a high 

 refractive index. An advantage of special importance is, that it 

 remains perfectly colorless for any length of time, wdiile balsam, 

 in a few years at most, becomes yellow and finally so opaque that 

 the preparation is w^orthless. The soft, natural appearance which 

 objects mounted in glycerine have renders any extra labor in- 

 curred in their preparation a matter of little moment to the artistic 

 manipulator. 



The difficulty experienced in the manipulation of glycerine 

 deters many from its more frequent employment. If attention is 

 paid to details, however, it will be found but little more difficult 

 to use than balsamic mediums. In order to bring out the points 

 of importance, a brief description of the preparation of an ideal 



* From a paper read at the meeting of the K. P. A., June, 1892. 



