564 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XL VI. No. 1197 



London the collection is well forward. It 

 should again be pointed out that every ton of 

 nuts gathered means a saving of half a ton of 

 grain. Present indications are that at least 

 25,000 tons of nuts will reach the Ministry of 

 Munitions, but this is only about one eighth 

 of the estimated crop for the country. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 NEWS 



A BEQUEST of $200,000 is left to Tale Uni- 

 versity by the terms of the will of the late 

 Richard P. Sewell of Boston. 



H. P. Wood, head of the department of elec- 

 trical engineering at the Georgia School of 

 Technology, Atlanta, Ga., has been appointed 

 president of the Academic Board of the 

 United States Army School of Military Aero- 

 nautics, which has been established at the 

 Georgia School of Technology. 



Professor J. F. Wilson, who during the 

 past year was professor of electrical engineer- 

 ing at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, 

 has been appointed assistant professor of elec- 

 trical engineering at the University of South- 

 ern California, Los Angeles. 



Dr. John Edward Maer, P.E.S., fellow of 

 St. John's College since 1881, university lec- 

 turer in geology at Cambridge University, has 

 been elected to the Woodwardian professorship 

 of geology in succession to the late Professor 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE 



METHODS FOR PREPARING ANIMAL MATE- 

 RIAL TO BE DISSECTED 



Possibly the most common fixing and pre- 

 serving fluid used for dissecting material is 

 formalin. It is relatively inexpensive and 

 especially convenient for collecting expedi- 

 tions where a concentrated fluid is desirable. 

 Animals preserved in it have rigid joints, 

 however, and every one is familiar with the 

 disagreeable characteristics of such material 

 during dissection. Alcohol is much better 

 from the standpoint of the dissector, but it has 

 limitations when used alone. 



Some of the " embalming fluid " mixtures 

 used in preparing human cadavers for dissec- 



tion are also splendid for smaller animals. 

 Those containing phenol, alcohol and glyc- 

 erine with no formalin give relatively flexible 

 joints and pliable tissues. They also render 

 the material resistant to a large amount of 

 drying in the open air of a laboratory during 

 dissection. Phenol is a relatively non-volatile 

 antiseptic, and glycerine is very effective in 

 preventing drying. Alcohol counteracts the 

 action of the phenol in the solution, on the 

 hands of the dissector. A good and much 

 used solution consists of equal parts of phenol, 

 alcohol and glycerine. Another less expensive 

 fluid with arsenic and considerable water added 

 to the above was described by Dr. W. C. Lusk 

 some years ago^ with an excellent discussion 

 of principles involved in preparing cadavers 

 for dissection. 



As penetration by such fluids is slow, the 

 mixture should be injected through some large 

 artery, a femoral or carotid in the case of 

 mammals. Small animals may be placed in 

 solutions of about 80 per cent, alcohol in 

 water when it is not practicable to inject 

 them. In such cases, the usual practise of ma- 

 king a slit, at least in the ventral abdominal 

 wall, should be followed. After all the tissues 

 have been fixed, the material may be removed 

 to a ■ container which holds an " embalming 

 fluid," such as I have mentioned, much diluted 

 with water. Ten or more parts of water to 

 one of the " embalming fluid " may be used. 

 In fact, I have kept material which had al- 

 ready been thoroughly fixed in either formalin 

 or alcohol, for several years in a solution con- 

 sisting of water with 1 to 2 per cent, of phenol 

 and 5 to 10 per cent, glycerine, with or without 

 a little alcohol. Single specimens thus pre- 

 served have been used in dissection for many 

 months without deterioration, so long as they 

 were not kept out of the solution for more 

 than a few hours or so at a time. 



It is customary in human anatomy to leave 

 cadavers on the dissecting tables for months 

 without soaking. The glycerine in their tis- 

 sues is wonderfully effective in checking dry- 

 ing. Nevertheless, unless the atmosphere of 

 the room is very moist a good deal of drying 

 1 Anat. Record, Vol. 3, No. 1. 



