Included among the 2005 season of Quekett activities was a well-attended microtomy Workshop presented by Quekett Member Colin Kirk in order to teach his fellow Members the techniques needed to use a microtome and then stain and mount the resulting wax-embedded sections. The Workshop was held on Sunday 25 September 2005, and the venue was the Humfrey Rooms in Castilian Terrace in Northampton, home of the Northamptonshire Natural History Society and Field Club (NNHS).
Ask a stranger to define the term 'Cambridge Rocker' and if he or she is able to avoid the obvious reference to an exuberant citizen of a certain university town, and against the laws of probability, launch into an exposition describing the delights of wax embedding and section cutting, the chances are that you are in the presence of a microscopist. However, if you press the point and ask the microscopist whether they have actually used a Cambridge Rocker, or any other form of microtome, then the laws of probability will almost certainly be against you, for it would appear that while a relatively large number of microscopists own a microtome of one form or another, very few of these owners have actually used their instrument to cut sections. The perception of many microscopists, it would appear, is that the achievement of the elusive ribbon of wax-embedded sections sliding majestically from a microtome requires skills not possessed by most mere mortals. One person to whom this does not apply is Quekett Member Colin Kirk, who provided a well-attended microtomy Workshop in order to teach his fellow Members the techniques needed to use a microtome and then stain and mount the resulting wax-embedded sections.
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Colin Kirk sets up his own instrument, watched by Alan Kime, Dennis Fullwood, Chris Chamberain, Mike Gibson and Jeremy Poole. |
Before commencing his Workshop Colin pointed out that the methods discussed would be his own way of working and not the only way, nor, necessarily, the best way of doing things and he then started by offering some advice on the care and cleaning of the microtome. Before the subject of 'conventional' microtome blades was introduced, a range of alternative blade types was considered. These included disposable blades, hair trimmer blades and cut-throat razors.
Colin then described the main features of three types of microtome blade in common use, which were; the 'classical' rocker microtome blade made by John Heiffor, the German-made 'Jung' wedge or 'C' profile blade, and the knife made by Cambridge Instruments specifically for their Cambridge Rocker. The relative advantages and disadvantages of these blades and their individual sharpening requirements were also discussed.
Next, Colin produced several examples of commercially manufactured kits designed specifically for the sharpening of microtome knives. These included an 'Arkansas Hand-Ark Pro-Edge Tri-Hone', which contained a triangular three-surface 'V-block', and a sharpening kit made by the Cambridge Instrument Company, specifically for sharpening the blade of their Cambridge rocking microtome.
Colin suggested that a sheet of 6mm thick plate glass, cut to a width appropriate for the particular length of knife, could be usefully employed as a knife-sharpening surface. Other materials were also suitable, including water stones and slate. Colin concluded the topic of knife sharpening by describing the use of a wooden strop as an alternative to a honing device and he also displayed a German-made 'Biber' leather strop which had been impregnated with jeweller's rouge.
Before ending the session on knife sharpening, Colin demonstrated the use of his 'Autosharp IV' automatic knife-sharpening machine. This sharpened the knife by holding it in a mechanical arm, so that each of the blade's two cutting edges were held in turn, at the correct angle against the surface of a rotating eccentric abrasive disc.
Before the Students, alias the Quekett Members. were invited to practice section cutting with their own microtomes Colin demonstrated how to attach wax blocks to the block-holder (also known as the 'chuck') of the microtome, using a heated spatula. He then demonstrated the use of the microtome to produce an ideal wax ribbon of cut sections.
| After making the appropriate adjustments, and using plain wax blocks kindly provided by Colin, the Students began using their microtomes. |  |
Very soon ribbons of embedding wax began to appear around the workshop, with Colin providing encouragement, advice and assistance as it was needed, until it was time for everybody to take a well-earned lunch break. This took the form of an excellent buffet, kindly provided by Miss Dawn Lovitt, President of the NNHS.
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Clockwise from top left: Colin demonstrates sharpening the blade. A good ribbon! Participants examine an interesting array of microtomes. Jeremy Poole tries his hand at sharpening his blade.
The lunch-break over, it was back to the Workshop and the continuation of the practical section cutting, some Students now moving on to cut sections of wax-embedded Borage stem, provided by Colin. When it was evident that everyone had successfully achieved the objective of cutting good sections, Colin brought this part of the Workshop to a close and moved on to the question of what to do with the sections after they had been cut, and this then occupied the remainder of Colin's Workshop.
This can be summarised as; the attachment of the cut wax-embedded specimen to a slide, its de-waxing, followed by rehydration, staining, dehydration, mounting in a resinous mountant under a cover slip, and finally, the ringing and then labelling of the finished slide. For his staining demonstration, Colin had chosen to use a combination of aqueous Alcian Blue and Safranine O. This was a personal choice and as Colin pointed out, all microscopists who stained and mounted their own specimens would use their own selection of stains.
The Workshop also provided an excellent exhibition of a wide variety of types of microtome owned by the Quekett Members, in addition to the Beck rotary microtome which Colin had brought. Before the day's proceedings were brought to a close the Quekett Members offered their sincere thanks to all those who had forfeited their Sunday and given so generously of their time in order to ensure the success of the Workshop.
In alphabetical order these kind people were: Mrs Joan Bingley, Member and Business Manager of the Quekett Microscopical Club, who so competently organised the Workshop. Quekett Member Mr Colin Kirk, who so ably prepared and presented the Workshop, and to whom the sincere thanks of the Author are due for his diligent checking of the original manuscript of this report, and the many helpful corrections and suggestions that he provided. Miss Dawn Lovitt, President of the NNHS, who very kindly provided the refreshing tea, coffee and biscuits, and her excellent buffet lunch. Mr Cyril Sampson, General Secretary of the NNHS, who had very kindly made the Humfrey Rooms available to the Quekett Members.