Having had some difficulty with cutting sections of the woodlouse, when cleared in xylene, prior to being embedded in paraffin wax, I changed to cedarwood oil as the clearing agent. This made a most noticeable effect on the sectioning, with perfect ribboning using the rotary microtome.

Two questions with this: Have others found cedarwood oil to be more beneficial as a clearing agent?

With regard to the section of the woodlouse (image shown below), stained with haematoxylin/eosin, if anyone has at some time made sections of this specimen, I would be most interested to know a little more of its microscopical anatomy. I have some references but would appreciate more.

Comments by e-mail are welcomed to Mike Morgan.