Rehydrating invertebrate specimens

The following was originally posted to nhcoll and is reproduced
here without the knowledge or consent of the authors

    I'm an objects conservator at Texas Memorial Museum. One of our
    curators just asked me about what would be the best way to
    rehydrate specimens from a collection of cave invertebrates
    which unfortunately dried out. I understand that these types of
    specimen are difficult to rehydrate due to the chitinaceous
    exterior.

    I have read 2 papers (see below) which recommend using
    combinations of trisodium phosphate/or other detergents with
    (deionized) water or "alcohol", heated or perhaps under vacuum,
    to rehydrate specimens.

    Can anybody offer any other suggestions/helpful hints?

    I'm trying to work out what would be the least damaging method
    to use, accepting that some damage will occur, but that this is
    acceptable if the specimens regain some scientific value. Of
    course, all procedures carried out on the specimens will be
    recorded.

    I'd be grateful for any help anybody could give,

    Kathy Hall
    Conservator
    Materials Conservation Laboratory
    Texas Memorial Museum
    10100 Burnet Road
    Austin, Texas 78758
    512-471-6090
    Fax: 512-471-6092

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:39
                Distributed: Thursday, October 23, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-11-39-011
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