[Histonet] magnetized tissue??

[Monfils, Paul]

I have noticed an odd phenomenon many times, so I assume others must have
noticed it too?  I often have slender, cylindrical specimens like vessels or
mouse spinal cord that have to be cut in cross section and therefore have to
be embedded "on end". Sometimes a specimen is a little too long to mount on
end without the cassette resting on top of the specimen.  In such cases I
take a scalpel blade and trim a bit off the length, to make the specimen
"shorter". When I take a specimen that has been trimmed in this way, and
drop it back into the stainless steel embedding mold filled with paraffin,
the specimen instantly flips around and attaches on end to the bottom of the
mold, always by the freshly cut end, just as though it somehow became
"magnetized" by my trimming it. Has anyone else observed this?  (Please say
yes, I can't be the only one!)  If so, does anyone have any idea how/why
this occurs?  Obviously it is not true magnetism operating here because (1)
tissue does not become magnetized, and (2) stainless steel is not attracted
to a magnet.