[Histonet] The Passing Of Dr. James McCormick

[John Kiernan]

Thank you, Tom Pella, for the web links.
Did James McCormick really invent the first cryostat?

I have always seen the early chapters of the late AGE Pearse's Histochemistry book as a good source for the history of the cryostat. In his 2nd (1960), 3rd (1968) and 4th (last, 1980 ISBN 0443019983) editions, Pearse cited many publications about the development of the cryostat in the late 1950s and early 1960s but he did not mention McCormick.
I've not seen the 1st (1953) edition of Pearse's book. It may predate the cryostat.

As a student in the UK in 1962 I was taught how to use a "Pearse-Slee" cryostat.
It was quite similar to ones made since 2000 and used by exploited graduate students to this day. The temperature controls have steadily improved over the decades, and by the 1980s the microtome within the freezer had become something better than the Cambridge Rocker in the Slee cryostats of the 1960s.

The anti-roll plate to allow collecting a flat section was in place 60 years ago, and using it was never easy. It is necessary for doing some enzyme activity histochemistry methods (dehydrogenases, cytochrome oxidase etc) on nominally thin (~10um) sections of unfixed tissue.

The later invention of the vibrating microtome (Vibratome) has made it quite easy to collect and handle sections of unfixed specimens that have not been frozen, but the sections have to be quite thick (50um or more). That is often OK in research, especially for sections of brains. It is also comparable to traditional frozen sections for surgical pathology, which were cut from pieces of tissue briefly immersed in boiling hot 4% formaldehyde. The sections were cut with a traditional freezing microtome, collected from knife as they melted, and deftly moved onto slides with a paintbrush. This technology is not extinct.

John Kiernan
= = =
________________________________
From: Tom Pella via Histonet <histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu>
Sent: July 23, 2022 3:44 PM
To: histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu <histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu>
Subject: [Histonet] The Passing Of Dr. James McCormick

I've skimmed over the posts to Histonet since late June and I haven't seen
any post on Histonet, where the passing of Dr. James McCormick was
mentioned. He died on June 26th, 2022. I saw this mentioned on Histology
Professionals on FB but not here.

Here are a few links to online obituaries, the second with some rolling
pictures:

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/chicagotribune/name/james-mccormick-obi
tuary?id=35647547

https://www.swedishhospitalfoundation.org/news/in-memoriam-dr-james-mccormic
k

His contributions to the field of Histology can't be overstated. He invented
the first Cryostat, the first Histology Automated Tissue Processor, the
first Embedding Center, the first Tissue Cassette (and many other subsequent
cassettes), the first processes to use this instrumentation. His inventions
are in use every single day in most Histology Labs worldwide.

I only became acquainted with Dr. McCormick for a brief time later in his
life on a product collaboration. I found him to be the consummate gentleman;
a person in whom ideas were always bubbling to the surface; gracious and
intelligent and witty. His passing is a great loss for this community. His
public memorial service was held just today.

Tom Pella
President
Ted Pella, Inc.








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