I am trying to soften chitin in some crustacean samples for wax sectioning. A search of the archives turned up some suggestions pertaining to sectioning insects. This suggested using phenol and chloral hydrate as a softening agent, but was light on the details of how to prepare this mixture.
Please could Tom Clarke of Kansas State University or Barry Rittman (or anyone else who can help!) please contact me asap. 
Many thanks

Andrew Prior
Biology Dept
Leicester University
UK
aep14@le.ac.uk