Hoping to keep our last Tissue-Tek VIP 100% alcohol as close to 100% as
possible, we had considered putting Drierite in it. But, Dr. Freida
Carlson's text, p25, warns not to use Drierite in a closed system. Does
anyone know why not? For optimized specimen orientation and block economy
(several ordered/oriented specimens in one block), we (since 1978) pre-embed
small specimens in agar; and if dehydration is not complete, it apparently
microscopically "boils" the water in the agar causing it to shrivel and
collapse into a tough-to-cut, plastic-like material.