Hand Sections
Link to MORE Hand Sectioning Illustrations
The ability to make free hand sections will allow you to quickly analyze plant organs without resorting to laborious procedures. A tremendous amount of information can be derived from hand sections. These do not need to be extremely thin to be of use. In addition, hand sections of a structure do not need to be complete or uniformly thin to be useful. Your initial attempts at hand sectioning will probably be frustrating, however, you will quickly become proficient. Hand sections also provide 3-D information which is not available with most commercial slides.
Instructions (Right-Handed)
1] Place a Band-Aid on the thumb of your left hand. Have the cotton portion on the bottom of your thumb. The thumb is a backstop for this operation.
2] Place another on the end of your index finger. The index finger will control the height go the specimen, and thus its thickness.
3] Grasp the plant structure between
your thumb and forefinger so that the top of the specimen extends above the level of your
forefinger.
4] Take a single-edge razor blade in your right hand. Be sure that it is wet.
5. Rest the blade on your
forefinger and use a slicing motion to cut off the top of the specimen.
6. Try to avoid cutting your thumb with the blade!!!
7] Raise the specimen slightly by manipulating it with your fingers and repeat the slicing motion.
8] Thin sections can often be obtained by pressing the blade down on your forefinger and then slicing through the specimen several times.
9] After several sections have accumulated on the blade, wash them off in a Petri dish of water.
10] Keep on slicing until you have some thin sections. These will appear translucent when seen against the dark background of your lab bench. In most cases, the sections will have thin and thick regions. As long as part of the section is thin, you may be able to use it, and thick sections are frequently OK.
11] Sections can be removed with forceps and placed in a drop of water or stain on a microscope slide.
12] It is a good idea to view unstained sections prior to staining. Proper use of the aperture iris is important for this.