John,
        cannot agree with you that the mounted slides will last forever. While
the paraffin has penetrated inside cells it has not replaced the componenets
and many components still have the ability to absorb water on the cut surface
of the section. Only have to put a drop of aqueous stain on them to see that
they still have a lot of absorptive power.
Also sections are susceptible to fungal growth unless the surface is sealed.
Barry

"J. A. Kiernan" wrote:

> On Thu, 2 Dec 1999, P. Emry wrote:
>
> > I have made extra slides (paraffin embed) which I may want to use in the
> > future.  Is it possible to cover them with crystalmount or some other
> > product to protect them in storage?
>
>   You don't need to do anything. The mounted paraffin ribbons
>   will keep for ever. The cardboard boxes that contained the
>   new slides are excellent for storage. Just keep them somewhere
>   cooler than the softening temperature of the wax. If that is
>   not possible, you will need boxes (or cardboard trays) that
>   prevent close packing of the slides.
>
>  John A. Kiernan,
>  Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology,
>  The University of Western Ontario,
>  LONDON,  Canada  N6A 5C1
>
>