On 2006-08-14 19:27:04 -0400, "Tony Stott" <GreenieLeBrun at hotmail.com> said:
>> JEDilworth wrote:
>> I worked in a very small micro lab in the 70's and they were using a big
>> pickle jar and a candle for their chocolate and Thayer Martin plates. It
>> worked quite well. It was messy though, and somewhat tricky to position the
>> candle and light it so you wouldn't burn yourself.
>>>> I doubt whether it would be allowed in our more safety conscious
>> laboratories now.
>>>> I believe you meant 5% CO2 conditions, not anaerobic conditions. You need
>> gas generators for the latter.
>>>> Judy Dilworth, M.T. (ASCP)
>>>> "N10" <limbic_lesion at hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:NvidnbOphZo5rX3ZRVnyig at bt.com...>>>>> I remeber once just a few years back when we ran out of CO2 for the
>>> genereation of anaerobic conditions I reverted to candling ! and it
>>> worked very staisfactorily much to the amazement of the younger
>>> microbiologists who witnessed it.
>> No, you need a brass anaerobic jar, a small metal mesh bag of palladium
> catalyst, a water powered vacuum pump and basket ball bladder filled
> from a cylinder of hydrogen, oh yes, don't forget to put your plates in
> agar side down other wise the agar may fall into the lid when you apply
> the vaccuum.
>> Anyone still know how to pull pasteur pipettes?
Do they even teach glass arts in micro any more? I used to make some
pretty good pipettes, and also glass "rakes" - a rod with a glass
trigangle at the end to rake up an entire plate of growth. I can still
teach the "kids" how to make wire loops, but they've never used them
with a bunsen burner!
BTW, a neat alternative for a decreased O2 environment is to use a
small jar that can fit plates and include a blood plate with a lawn of
E. coli. The E. coli can reduce the O2 to about the equivalent of a
candle jar. We used to make our own candles out of pathology paraffin.
--
John Gentile, MS M(ASCP)
Laboratory Information Manager
Providence, VAMC
