Microscopists who are interested in the study of histology and pathology have long felt the necessity for a better method of freezing animal and vegetable tissue than has been heretofore at their command.
In hardening tissues by chemical agents, the tissues are more or less distorted by the solutions used, and the process is very slow. Ether and rhigolene have been employed with some degree of success, but both are expensive, and they cannot be used in the presence of artificial light, because of danger of explosion. Another disadvantage is that two persons are required to attend to the manipulations, one to force the vapor into the freezing box, while the other uses the section-cutting knife.
The moment the pumping of the ether or rhigolene ceases, the tissue operated on ceases to be frozen, so ephemeral is the degree of the cold obtained by these means.
The principal advantages to be obtained by the use of this microtome are, first, great economy in the method of freezing, and, second, celerity and certainty of freezing. With an expenditure of twenty-five cents, the tissues to be operated on can be kept frozen for several hours at a time.

License information: nan
MPAA: PG
Go to source: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/8504/8504-h/8504-h.htm#12