Could it be that the fibres contracted when they hit the
 irritant formalin, rather than shrank from loss of water?

                          John Kiernan (London, Canada).
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On Wed, 30 Aug 2000, Neuropathology wrote:

> Having, due to gross carelessness,  dropped a muscle biopsy into formalin I
> have to disagree.  When I hauled it back out,  after a few minutes, the
> fibres had shrunk considerably.
> 
> ----- Earlier Message -----
> >   The shrinkage of a formaldehyde-fixed block occurs during dehydration,
> >
> >  John A. Kiernan,
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