Dear kjsavage@buffalo.edu 

Methacarn is easy to make. It contains nothing
that could form a precipitate. Your email
indicates that you have all the ingredients
(chloroform, methanol, acetic acid). This is a
non-aqueous coagulant fixative, differing from
Carnoy only in having methanol instead of ethanol.
Fixatives of this kind contain no water.

Cloudiness or a precipitate 
might happen if an ingredient is wrong or if 
water gets into the mixture. Are your methanol and
acetic acid 95-100%? 

The advice to avoid plastic was good, because
chloroform attacks some plastic ware. 

John Kiernan
Anatomy, UWO
London, Canada
______________________________________________________
kjsavage@buffalo.edu wrote:
> 
> Greetings all,
> 
> I am having a difficult time trying to make methacarn fixative.  I have
> searched the list archives and found a posting in May 2005 from someone
> that was having the same problem I am facing: a white precipitate
> forming.  In one of the responses to his posting it was suggested to
> use glass only (pipets, vials etc...).  I have done that, and still the
> precipitate forms.  I have also used all new reagents (chloroform,
> methanol, acetic acid) and still the precipitate forms.  Does anyone
> have some more suggestions as to what is going wrong?  Thanks, Kathy
> 
> Kathy Savage, PhD
> Dept. of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences
> SUNY-University at Buffalo
> 
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