[Histonet] Bones

Fri Oct 24 13:55:44 CDT 2008

Hi Ian and all histonetters-
The bugs are called Dermestid beetles. Most Museums use them. Once the colony you have is going - the can demeat any bone in 24hrs just about! they are clean, neat and do not smell. You can order them from Carolina Biological supply in North carolina, USA. probably other places too. If you know anyone in the museum antropology department, they may have some.
Judy

On Fri, 24 Oct 2008, kbowden wrote:

> One of the departments (body donations) here uses bugs to clean soft tissue off 
> of bones.  I thinks it takes about a week or so.  You might look into the type 
> of bugs you have in your region for that purpose.
> --
> Karen Bowden
> Staff Research Associate II
> University of CA, San Diego
> Department of Orthopedics
> 9500 Gilman Dr. 0630
> La Jolla, CA 92093-0630
> 858-534-4655 voice
> 858-534-5304 fax
>
>
> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:
> THE INFORMATION TRANSMITTED IN THIS E-MAIL IS INTENDED ONLY FOR THE
> PERSON OR ENTITY TO WHICH IT IS ADDRESSED AND MAY CONTAIN CONFIDENTIAL
> AND/OR PRIVILEGED MATERIAL. ANY REVIEW, RETRANSMISSION, DISSEMINATION OR
> OTHER USE OF OR TAKING OF ANY ACTION IN RELIANCE UPON THIS INFORMATION
> BY PERSONS OR ENTITIES OTHER THAN THE INTENDED RECIPIENT IS PROHIBITED.
> IF YOU RECEIVED THIS E-MAIL IN ERROR, PLEASE CONTACT THE SENDER AND
> DELETE THE MATERIAL FROM ANY COMPUTER.
>
>
> Ian Montgomery wrote:
>>             I have some bones, from various species, that I want to clean of
>> muscle, tendons, etc, etc. The method currently used is boiling the bones in
>> water for several hours, days until they are completely clean. Problem, it's
>> a wee bit smelly, in fact a big bit smelly. Me being a delicate soul more
>> used to various exotic eau de parfum wonder if there is another technique
>> available. Some species respond to soaking for several weeks in laboratory
>> detergent while others don't. NaOH or KOH, again some do others don't. What
>> I would ideally like is a universal method that's reasonably quick, but not
>> smelly, can anyone help.
>> 
>> Ian.    Dr. Ian Montgomery,
>> 
>> Histotechnology,
>> 
>> I.B.L.S. Support Unit,
>> 
>> Thomson Building,
>> 
>> University of Glasgow,
>> 
>> Glasgow,
>> 
>> G12 8QQ.
>> 
>>  _______________________________________________
>> Histonet mailing list
>> Histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
>> http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet
>> 
>>   
> _______________________________________________
> Histonet mailing list
> Histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
> http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet
>

Judith Williams, PhD, HT(ASCP)
Research Scientist
Department of Comparative Medicine
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195