Hi Pam:

Thank you for the input. I use isopropanol  more from habit than 
anything else. My old supervisor used it at the Massachusetts General 
Hospital. When I started this neuropathology lab at the Brain Bank at 
McLean Hospital in 1986, I just followed suit. I did notice that when I 
went from a rotary processor (the Shandon Citadel 2000) to an enclosed 
machine (the Shandon Hypercenter XP) in 1997, the brain tissue came out 
brittle, even without the vacuum-pressure function, so I gradually 
reduced my times. The brittleness is much less of a problem now. 
However, maybe I should try ethanol anyway and see what happens. Thanks 
again.

Tim Wheelock