To care for wet specimens - reflections on handling animal tissue and human remains.

In Swedish institutions today, wet specimen collections of animal tissue and human remains are not prioritised in the collections and there is no praxis on optimal preservation and care of these specimen, which comprises its cultural significance. Historically, wet conservation has been widely utilized in medical research and training to establish pathological conditions as well as to solidify the status of the medical profession within Sweden. The purpose of this essay is to investigate the medico-historical context of wet specimens of animal tissue and human remains, highlight issues regarding management and care and recommend practical and ethical guidelines for such objects. This purpose is supported by two case studies of Swedish institutions and their collection of wet specimen to show current examples of contemporary management. Moreover, the essay investigated the two main types of solutions - formalin and ethanol - in their historical and current usage. Recommendations for management of these and other solutions were presented in reference to health & safety. Furthermore, experiments were conducted of two methods for identification of unknown wet specimen solutions. The results of the experiment gave support for one method of identification utilizing phloroglucinol for future curatorial work; however the experiment on gravimetric identification did not yield significant results and was discarded. Finally, the essay discussed in its conclusion that while wet conversation of human remains has been widely utilized in Swedish medical history, the lack of lucidity regarding current praxis of care, storage and preventive conservation raises issues for its status and ethical significance in the 21st century.Uppsats för avläggande av filosofie kandidatexamen i Kulturvård, Konservatorsprogrammet 15 hp Institutionen för kulturvård Göteborgs universitet 2012:2