172 



LABELING AND CATALOGING. 



[CH. VII. 



§ 293. Cataloging Preparations. — It is believed from personal ex- 

 perience, and from the experience of others, that each preparation 

 (each slide or each series) should be accompanied by a catalog contain- 

 ing at least the information suggested in the following formula : This 

 formula is very flexible, so that the order may be changed, and num- 

 bers not applicable in a given case may be omitted. With many ob- 

 jects, especially embryos and small animals, the time of fixing and 

 hardening may be months or even years earlier than the time of im- 

 bedding. So, too, an object may be sectioned a long time after it was 

 imbedded, and finally the sections may not be mounted at the time they 

 are cut. It would be well in such cases to give the date of fixing under 

 2, and under 5, 6 and 8, the dates at which the operations were per- 

 formed if they differ from the original date and from one another. In 

 brief, the more that is known about a preparation the greater its value. 



\ 294. General Formula for Catalog- 

 ing Microscopical Preparations : 



1. The general name and source. 

 Thickness of cover glass and of sections. 



2. The number of the preparation and 

 the date of obtaining and fixing the 

 specimen ; the name of the preparator. 



3. The special name of the prepara- 

 tion and the common and scientific 

 name of the object from which it is de- 

 rived. Purpose of the preparation. 



4. The age and condition of the object 

 from which the preparation is derived. 

 Condition of rest or activity ; fasting 

 or full fed at the time of death. 



5. The chemical treatment, — the 

 method of fixing, hardening, dissociating 

 etc., and the time required. 



6. The mechanical treatment, — im- 

 bedded, sectioned, dissected with nee- 

 dles, etc. Date at which done. 



7. The staining agent or agents and 

 the time required for staining. 



8. Dehydrating and clearing agent, 

 mounting medium, cement used for 

 sealing. 



9. The objectives and other accesso- 

 ries (micro-spectroscope, polarizer, etc.) 

 for studying the preparation. 



10. Remarks, including references to 

 original papers, or to good figures and 

 descriptions in books. 



A Catalog Card Written According to 

 this Formula : 



Muscular Fibers. Cat. 



C. 15. 

 Fibers 20 to 40 /it thick.. 



2. No. 475. (Drr. IX) Oct. r, 1891. S. 

 H. G., Preparator. 



3. Tendinous and intra-muscular ter- 

 minations of striated muscular fibers 

 from the Sartorius of the cat {Felis do- 

 meslica.) 



4. Cat eight mouths old, healthy and 

 well nourished. Fasting and quiet for 

 12 hours. 



5. Muscle pinned on cork with vas- 

 elined pins and placed in 20 per cent, 

 nitric acid immediately after death by 

 chloroform. Left 36 hours in the acid ; 

 temperature 20° C. In alum water (% 

 sat. aq. sol.) I day. 



6. Fibers separated on the slide with 

 needles. Oct. 3. 



7. Stained 5 minutes with Delsfield's 

 hematoxylin. 



8. Dehydrated with 95%. alcohol 5 

 minutes, cleared 5 minutes with carbol- 

 turpentine, mounted in xylene balsam ; 

 sealed with shellac. 



9. Use 18 mm. for the general appear- 

 ance of the fibers, then 2 or 3 mm. ob- 

 jective for the details of structure. Try 

 the micro-polariscope (§ 209). 



10. The nuclei or muscle corpuscles 

 are very large and numerous ; many of 

 the intra-muscular ends are branched. 

 See S. P. Gage, Proc. Amer. Micr. Sci., 

 1890, p. 132 ; Ref. Hand-book Med., Sci., 

 Vol. V., p. 59- 



