cutting a leaf

[Tony Travis]

ara at zurich.ai.mit.edu (Allan Adler) writes:
: [...]
: Alas I have no pith. I wouldn't know where to look for it. A more modern book
: on histological technique assumes one will normally be using a microtome and
: explains how to  embed (human) tissues in paraffin and mount them
: in the microtome. So I gather that the point is that I want something firm
: enough to hold the object (leaf) I wish to cut and which is at the same time 
: soft enough that I can cut both it and the leaf, like a sandwich.

The 'pith' is simply a region of undifferentiated cells inside the
vascular cylinder of plant roots or stems.

Many 'real' botanists cut a carrot in half and hold the leaf in that
while they take gently tapering sections with a single-sided cut-throat
razor.

The thinnest part of the section (at the end of the taper) is thin
enough to see the leaf anatomy clearly under a microscope.  Mount the
section in glycerine and use a cover slip to improve the visibility of
the section.

	Tony

--
Dr. A.J.Travis,                       |  Tony Travis
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