Hi Rhidian,

A number of years ago my pathologist wanted x-sections of hair and I
embedded them in wax by allowing the wax to slightly solidify on the bottom
of a metal mould and used forceps to orientate the hairs end on in the
partially solidified wax.  It was then just a matter of allowing the wax to
cool and cut and mount the sections.  If I remember correctly, the
pathologist examined the hairs without the removal of the wax from the
section.

Jim.

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At 11:16 08/05/00 +1000, Rhidian Harrington wrote:
>I, with the help of Bruce Abaloz, have been trying to do cross
>sections of animal hairs without much success. I collected the hairs
>during a fauna survey in Pakistan. A cross section is the best
>characteristic for identifying unknown animal hairs. The literature
>(which is old) suggests that you use stainless steel slides with 0.8
>mm holes drilled in them. The hairs are packed tightly in the holes
>and  then cut off on either side of the slide. A cover slip can be
>mounted and the cross section viewed.
>
>Does anybody know a different, more efficient method than this for
>doing cross sections of hairs?
>
>Thanks,
>Rhidian
>