Gray lists about 26 copper containing fixatives.  Two of these are
copper-formalin mixtures.

Gelderd's (1909.  Ref. Cellule, v25, p12)  solution is:
Sea water 250 mL
Cupric nitrate 5 g.
Sat. formalin 12.5 mL

Stappers' (1909.  Ref. Cellule, v25, p356) solution is:
Water 220 mL
Cupric nitrate 5 g.
Sat. formalin  30 mL

Gray comments:
"Cupric salts are never used alone for fixation.  They are good fixatives in
general, owing to their power of mordanting tissues,  particularly those
which it is desired subsequently to stain in hematoxylin."



Ref.
Gray, P..
The microtomist's formulary and Guide, p219.
Krieger, NY.
ISBN: 0-88275-247-2


Bryan Llewellyn


----- Original Message -----
From: "Andrea Grantham" 
To: 
Sent: Thursday, May 30, 2002 8:17 AM
Subject: WEIRD FIXATIVE


> One of the research techs here brought some tumor tissue to the lab fixed
> in Copper Formalin.
> In one of his replys to my quizzing him about the fixative he said that he
> wanted to make up zinc formalin but didn't have any zinc and "copper is
> right next to zinc" (on the chart, I presume) so he just thought he'd give
> it a try.
> What might we expect in terms of staining?
> When we bisected the tumors to process it was interesting to see that
there
> was a turquoise color in the center of the tissue. None of the other
tumors
> fixed in other fixatives  (10% NBF, Carnoys) had this color.
> Andi Grantham
> .....................................................................
> : Andrea Grantham, HT(ASCP)     Dept. of Cell Biology & Anatomy     :
> : Sr. Research Specialist       University of Arizona               :
> : (office:  AHSC 4212)          P.O. Box 245044                     :
> : (voice:  520-626-4415)        Tucson, AZ  85724-5044    USA       :
> : (FAX:  520-626-2097)          (email:  algranth@u.arizona.edu)       :
> :...................................................................:
>            http://www.cba.arizona.edu/histology-lab.html
>
>
>