365Caws is now in its 14th year of publication, and was originally intended to end after 365 days. It has sometimes been difficult for me to find new material, particularly during the winter months, but now as I enter my own twilight years, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to provide daily posts. It is my hope that along the way I may have inspired someone to a greater curiosity about the natural world. If so, I can rest, content in the knowledge that my work here has been done.
Sunday, October 30, 2016
Microtome
Day 17: When preparing specimens for viewing through a compound microscope, tissue should be sliced as thinly as possible. This is extremely difficult to do by hand, although it is possible to obtain a workable section of soft material such as a lichen apothecium. A better solution is to use a microtome. The tissue is mounted in dental wax or paraffin if it is too small to be placed directly in the central chamber and then a slice is made with a straight razor to remove the end. By turning the dial at the base of the microtome, the mounted tissue can be advanced in 1-micron increments. With practice, it is possible to make cuts as thin as 1 micron. This will allow you to view the cellular structure of botanical specimens.
Labels:
botany,
microtome,
scientific equipment,
straight razor
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