Remarks on the best methods of displaying Entozoa in museums / by T. Spencer Cobbold, M.D.

  • Thomas Spencer Cobbold
Date:
[cbetween 1800 and 1899?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Remarks on the best methods of displaying Entozoa in museums / by T. Spencer Cobbold, M.D. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    It refers to the employment of various-sized watch-glasses. They are affixed to the vertical sheets of mica, and the specimens are introduced into their concavities ; each glass being fastened to the mica by threads passed through two or more holes pre- viously drilled at its circumferential margin. I find two holes sufficient, one on either side; but greater fixity and security may be obtained by boring more apertures at equidistant intervals. This adds, however, to the expense and risk of breakage. The holes should freely admit the passage of an ordinary needle. This plan is eminently suitable for the display of small flukes, Cysti- cerci (of the “measle” kind), and minute Hydatids. 5. A few years ago I initiated the employment of carmine, aniline, and other pigments in the preparation of Entozoa for museum purposes, and I am glad to be able to state that .the specimens thus first treated still retain their colouring almost unimpaired; at least, this is the case with those saturated with carmine. Eor microscopic purposes, these pigments had long previously being employed both here and on the Continent. Some of the magenta-dyed preparations have stood very well, where the carbolic-acid solution had been sufficiently strong to fix the colour. The specimens preserved in the Museum of the Middlesex Hospital, however, hardly offer a fair criterion of the durability of this latter pigment, since the preparations have been all along exposed to a strong sun-light. In a large collec- tion the use of carmine should not be excessive, but in particular instances (as, for example, in the encapsuled condition of Tri- china spiralis) its employment cannot be too highly recommended. [The above remarks were illustrated by the exhibition of spe- cimens of Hydatids, Cysticerci, Amphistomata, Sphserularise, Tri- chinae, Spir op terse, and Ccenuri, prepared by the author for the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons.]