I am sure that by now most people are sick of this topic, but I 
thought I might just add my 2 cents worth.
 There has been the custom here in SA that small biopsies, 
especially GI  and cervical ones  to be oriented on a piece of 
cardboard/paper by the surgeon BEFORE they are  placed in 
fixative and sent to the lab. Since they are the ones with the visual 
aids - microscopes etc, they are capable of placing the biopsies 
mucosa side up. They bx are then wrapped in paper - either perm 
end papers or small filter papers and then processed. The 
embedder, then knowing the orienation of the specimen, then 
merely has to remove and rotate the specimen to embed.

Is this customary in other centers? I know that this technique is 
not entirely suitable for renal or prostate biopsies, but ....it sure 
helped.

Then there was the method that was posted a while ago, where the 
lab used bits of dehydrated cucumber as "sponges'.....

Best regards and a good weekend to all

Louise