Yup. Clear and stain does good work. The chemicals can be hard
to obtain by private individuals though... depending upon quantity
and the technique used. I've used two different techniques. one
used a strong base to clear the specimens, the other used
pancreatic trypsin. You also need Glycerin (glycerol), alizarin red,
Alcian blue, sudan black (stains nerves), ethanol, formalin
(specimens must be formalin fixed prior to clearing), thymol, acetic
acid, sodium borate, potasium hydroxide (the base technique) and
potentially other things.
But the end result is really pretty... I had a friend who used this
technique to study lizard embryonic development and he referred
to the end product (stored in glycerine) as "candied embryos".
clear, but red... blue... and black. I think there's also a stain that
stains something yellowish orange,but I cannot remember what it
is, or what it would be staining. You can also leave the digestive
system in tact and you may end up seeing the gut-contents right
through the specimen.
greg
Assistant Collections Manager
Division of Vertebrate Zoology
Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History
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