Hi Lynn & Fred
Thanks for your suggestions - I've got some of my slides sitting on 
hot water in the oven as we speak! Fred,  I'd already attempted 
scoring the coverslips but it ended in some small disasters so I 
thought I'd leave that idea alone before it got too chaotic!
Thanks again

Joey.




>Dr. Shepherd,
>
>My guess would be that yes the wallpaper paste is what cracked 
>because if you have every put it on your wall and let it dry out it 
>cracks quite nicely.
>
>If all you used to coverslip is an aquamount you should be able to 
>remove the coverslip by soaking it in warm tap or distilled water. 
>It may take a day or two since the slides are so old but it will 
>eventually reach a point in which the coverslip can be removed 
>without damage to the tissue.
>
>If the coverslip does not come off in warm distilled water (keep re 
>warming it throughout the day) after a couple of days what may have 
>happened is that the aquamount and wall paper paste have created 
>some kind of a chemical bond and have hardened to create kind of a 
>permanent mount. If this is the case I would ask a person at a 
>wallpaper store what they use to remove wallpaper paste from the 
>walls and would try soaking my slides in that material to see if you 
>can get the coverslip off. This could be risky depending on what 
>they recommend as the immuno staining may be removed in the process 
>something to keep in mind.
>
>In the future I would always recommend taking pictures of anything 
>you do as soon as it is completed, especially if it is done on 
>frozen tissue or done with fluorescent dyes as either of these can 
>deteriorate very quickly over a short period of time. We also take 
>pictures of everything we do immediately just in case a slides is 
>broken or mis-placed...as it (via Murphy's law) seems to be that the 
>most important slides are the ones that get broken or mis-placed. 
>Just a good habit to get into.
>
>I wish you well and if I can be of help in the future please let me 
>know. I have been in the field 19+ years and have experienced many 
>unusual situations.
>
>Good Luck!
>Lynn Gruman, HT(ASCP)


>Evening Joey,
>	Most mountants remain fluid beneath the coverglass.  If this is not
>the case and removal of the coverglass is desired, then one must recognize
>that the coverglass is expendable and that there is no reason to treat it
>with care.
>	So>>>!
>		1.  I don't know what the Gurr mountant was/is made of, but
>one thing you might try is warm water to cause a melt.  Once the water has
>had a chance to work, use a #11 scalpel blade to tease the coverglass away
>from the slide at one, near corner.
>		2.  Pry the coverglass up at the corners.
>			a.  use a one-half of a double-edge razor blade.
>clamp the piece tightly in a pair of pliers and work the edge under the
>corner of the coverglass.
>			b.  I have also used a single-edge without a back, a
>#11 or #15 scalpel blade.
>		3.  When REALLY desparate, I have scored the coverglass with
>a diamond scribe and made certain that it was broken so that water or
>xylene/toluene (depending on the mountant) could access the space beneath
>the coverglass.
>
>	If none of these work, then you have my eternal sympathy.
>
>Cheers,
>
>Fred Monson
>
>Frederick C. Monson, PhD
>Center for Advanced Scientific Imaging
>Mail Drop:  Geology
>West Chester University
>West Chester, PA, 19383
>http://darwin.wcupa.edu/casi/
>Phone/FAX:  610-738-0437
-- 
Dr Joey Shepherd
Postdoctoral scientist
Academic Unit of Genetics and Informatics
Division of Genomic Medicine
The University of Sheffield Medical School
M Floor, Royal Hallamshire Hospital
Sheffield S10 2JF
UK

Phone 0114 271-3007
Fax 0114-272-1104