Page 5 - Demo

PROJECT 3: part 2 Slide Making In this project, we are going to make real slides in which you can keep specimens to look at for several years. Here is one I made 23 years ago. The type of slide we are making is a type of aqueous mountant slide, where we use fruit sugar, fructose, as the mounting liquid. Making professional slides which last 50 to 100 years is a complex procedure involving washing specimens in chemicals, fixing them, and making wax blocks with the specimen in. These blocks are then sliced. The almost-transparent slides are placed onto glass slides, and the wax melted and cleaned away. A mounting solution is added and a cover slip fixed in place. Many of the chemicals used are now considered toxic and are not easily available except professionally. It%u2019s unfortunate, as I believe the toxicity and risk involved using tiny quantities, is very small and less than the risk of crossing a busy road. Another issue is the process is quite involved and I want to show you an easier way to make slides using nontoxic materials which, although not suitable for all types of specimens, will last several years. The slide I made was so long ago, that I didn%u2019t expect to see anything because using fructose as a mountant means the stain eventually disappears, making it difficult to see the specimen. Please read the SAFETY AND DETAILS SUMMARY after the slide-making steps and before starting this project. [1] [2] This is a hand-cut section of a Honeysuckle stem which I mounted in Fructose in 1997, twenty-three years ago this year. They show the hairs around the stem. [1]%u2014lowest magnification. [2]%u2014higher. What you will need. A small jar and fructose sugar to make the mounting medium. You buy fructose at a local supermarket or health shop. It%u2019s often called fruit sugar. Be wary not to get %u2018preserving sugar%u2019 which sits along side it on supermarket shelves. This is for making jam and marmalade and also contains pectin. You need a small jar, maybe one used for paste or spice, washed and dried. Make a mark on the side of the jar, half-way up, and put another line above it about half as far as the first line (see right). Fill the jar with Fructose to the first line and pack it down with a spoon and fill to the line with hot water. Leave for a while, and then add more water to your higher line. Stand on a radiator or somewhere warm for 24 hrs to see it clear. It%u2019s probably best to leave the jar in a warm place for several days so that any tiny air bubbles float up and escape the liquid. You won%u2019t see them, but they%u2019re there. Originally stained with Carmen. Originally stained with Carmen. HOW HARD TO DO = 8/10 20