After dehydration through an alcohol series, specimens were embedded in paraffin, cut into sections 7 μm thick, and stained with Safranin-O-fast green.
The resolution of the scans depended on the material: 21 or 33 μm for prepared bone, 33 μm for alcohol preserved/fresh specimens, and 38 μm for anesthetized mice to keep the X-ray dosage low.
Then, when they were in the Natural History Museum in Paris last May for a study on tropical octopus diversity, they noticed rows of small, alcohol-preserved specimens, some of which sat unstudied for more than 100 years on the back shelves.
Dissections were carried out in alcohol-preserved specimens (of groups S, M, L and XL) with the aid of dissection microscopes (Wild M5, Wild Heerbrugg Ltd ,Heerbrugg, Switzerland, and Nikon SMZ1500, Nikon Corporation, Tokyo, Japan).
Our investigation of the female reproductive tract is primarily based on dissections of freshly killed and alcohol-preserved specimens.
All measures of the alpine and smooth newts (paedomorphic and metamorphic individuals) were taken on alcohol-preserved specimens.
Genomic DNA was extracted from alcohol-preserved specimens and from dry-mounted material up to 15 years old.
DNA was extracted from alcohol-preserved specimens and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of a fragment of the mitochondrial 16S rDNA was conducted as described [ 14].
After dehydration in graded alcohol concentrations, the specimens were embedded in araldite.
After rinsing and dehydration in ascending alcohol series, the specimens were embedded in Epon and ultrathin sections prepared with a Reichert-Jung Ultracut E (Darmstadt, Germany).
