Editing Microscope slide (section)

===Mounting media===
The '''mounting medium''' is the solution in which the specimen is embedded, generally under a cover glass. Simple liquids like water or [[glycerol]] can be considered mounting media, though the term generally refers to compounds that harden into a permanent mount. Popular mounting media include ''Permount'',<ref name="permount">{{cite web|url=https://research.amnh.org/molecular/histology_lab_msds/histology_msds/permount_mounitng_media.pdf|title=Material Safety Data Sheet, Permount Mounting Media|access-date=29 March 2018}}</ref> and [[Chloral hydrate#Hoyer.27s mounting medium|Hoyer's mounting medium]] and an alternative ''glycerine jelly'' <ref name="Mobot">{{cite web|title=Glycerine Jelly as a Substitute for Hoyer's Solution Mountant|url=https://www.mobot.org/plantscience/resbot/Meth/GlycerinJellyB.htm|website=www.mobot.org|access-date=29 March 2018}}</ref>   Properties of a good mounting medium include having a [[refractive index]] close to that of glass (1.518), non-reactivity with the specimen, stability over time without crystallizing, darkening, or changing refractive index, solubility in the medium the specimen was prepared in (either [[aqueous]] or [[non-polar]], such as [[xylene]] or [[toluene]]), and not causing the specimen stain to fade or leach.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=lciNs3VQPLoC&pg=PA446 Medical Laboratory Science : Theory And Practice] By Ochei & Kolkatker, p. 446.</ref>

====Examples of mounting media====

=====Aqueous=====
Popularly used in immunofluorescent cytochemistry where the fluorescence cannot be archived. The temporary storage must be done in a dark moist chamber. Common examples are:
#Glycerol-PBS (9:1) with antiquench, e.g. any of the following<ref>[http://www.gonda.ucla.edu/bri_core/mounting.htm Fluorescence specimen mounting, mounting medium, and antiquench agents – UCLA Brain Research Institute]</ref>
##p-phenylenediamine
##propyl gallate
##1,4-Diazabicyclo (2,2,2)-octane (DABCO) (very popular)
##Ascorbic acid
##Mowiol or Gelvatol
#Gelatin
#Mount
#Vectashield
#Prolong Gold
#CyGEL / CyGEL Sustain (to immobilize living, unfixed cells and organisms)

=====Non-aqueous=====
[[File:Journal.pone.0079155.g001 Slide of holotype of Lethacotyle fijiensis Manter & Prince, 1953.png|thumb|Slide of 60-year-old [[holotype]] specimen of a flatworm (''[[Lethacotyle fijiensis]])'' permanently mounted in [[Canada balsam]]]]
Used when a permanent mount is required
# Permount (toluene and a polymer of a-pinene, b-pinene, dipentene, b-phellandrene)
# [[Canada balsam]]
# DPX (''D''istrene 80 – a commercial [[polystyrene]], a [[Plasticizer|''p''lasticizer]] e.g. [[dibutyl phthalate]] and [[xylene]])
# DPX new (with [[xylene]] but free of carcinogenic [[dibutyl phthalate]])
# Entellan (with toluene)
# Entellan new
# Hempstead Halide Hoyer's Medium (a proprietary formulation of the traditional Hoyer's medium containing 60% [[Chloral]], but free of known carcinogens)
# Neo-Mount (compatible with aliphatic neo-clear but not compatible with aromatic solvents like xylene)