What, precisely, did you do when you "dipped in paraffin"?  Did you
immerse them in several changes of paraffin wax and allow the wax to
infiltrate the tissues?

cklein@mail.mdanderson.org wrote:
> 
> I am asking this question for a graduate student here in our lab...Some mouse
> skin was recently processed and when trying to cut the sections it was found
> that the tissue was too brittle.  The skins were fixed in 10% nbf for 16 hours
> and then dehydrated in a series of ethanol dilutions(70%, 85%, 90% and 100%) for
> 20 minutes each.  Skin was then cleared in xylene for 20minutes, dipped in
> parrafin and then embedded.  We think that perhaps the skin was fixed for too
> long a period.  Does anyone have any suggestions regading times for the
> fixation, clearing or parrafin infiltraion?
> I realize that this question has probably been asked many times before, but I am
> relatively new to the field of histology and am still learning where to find
> good accurate information.
> Thanking you in advance,
> I remain sincerely yours,
> Christine Klein
> MD Anderson Cancer Center Houston Texas

-- 
best regards,
Bob
Robert Schoonhoven
Laboratory of Molecular Carcinogenesis and Mutagenesis
Dept. of Environmental Sciences and Engineering
University of North Carolina
CB#7400
Chapel Hill, NC 27599
Phone 
office 919-966-6343
   Lab 919-966-6140
   Fax 919-966-6123 

Don't go around saying the world owes you a living; the world owes you
nothing; it was here first. 
Mark Twain [Samuel Langhornne Clemens] (1835-1910)