Very fine wrinkles can occur at the tissue-resin interface when cutting half-micron thick sections of e poxy-em bedded mouse intestine. The following is a list of possible remedies for removing such wrinkles: • Adding glycerol to the water in the knife boat • Using sodium ethoxide (or methoxide) to etch the resin • Using chloroform, xylene or trichloroethylene furmes to stretch the sections • Floating sections on a drop of 10% acetone on a slide, then heating gently to evaporate the acetone •

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... ace sections on a drop of water on a slide and then quickly flip the slide over. Lay the slide across a petri dish half-filled with xylene or chloroform so that the drop and sections are suspended above the solvent. Coverthe petri dish and glass slide with a large staining dish for 5-10 minutes, then apply heat until dry. While all of the above remedies are somewhat effective, the best solution In our laboratory is as follows: • Place sections in a drop of water on a slide and stretch with chloroform fumes by waving a chloroform-soaked cotton swab over the sections • Use a heat pen very close to (but not actually touching) the sections to stretch the sections yet again • Gently heat the slide on a hot plate set to the lowest possible setting Follow any of the above steps with the counterstain of your choice. This is far from a comprehensive list of tricks to eliminate wrinkles from sections, but these are the ones that were tried in this particular case.