Hahaha! I love it. Thank you for this rant because it helps to put things into the proper perspective! Bread is best used for sandwiches. O Olivia S. Anastasiadis, Curator Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace 18001 Yorba Linda Boulevard Yorba Linda, CA 92886 (714) 993-5075; fax (714) 528-0544; e-mail: [log in to unmask] On Mon, 25 Aug 1997 16:58:07 -0400 Diane Gutenkauf <[log in to unmask]> writes: >Denis Allen, [log in to unmask], wrote: > >>While working at the Bell Museum years ago I was informed by John >Jaros,= > >then the preparator at that >institution, that one of the most >effective >ways of cleaning mounted specimens that had become dusty >>was with bread. A loaf of sliced bread is cheap, already in usable >size= >d >pieces, will not blow arsenic >dust or other harmful materials used in >ol= >d >mounts all over, and is easily obtained. > > >Let's get sensible. Really, BREAD!!! And I suppose you rub raw >potatoes >over your oil paintings and feel the need to "feed" your furniture, >too. = >Do >you still believe that boiling linseed oil makes it "ok?" Do you >freeze >your insect infested artifacts by putting them on the roof of your >buildi= >ng >in the winter? When was the last time you consulted a professional >conservation journal? Food products are hardly appropriate materials >to u= >se >for caring for cultural property.There are reams of published material >dedicated to caring for natural history specimens and none of them >cite >bread as an appropriate tool. Perhaps you should update your library >and >refrain from dispensing erroneous conservation advice. > >A preparator is not a conservator. A preparator does not usually have >a >degree in chemistry. A preparator ofted works under the direction of a >conservator. > >And as for Mr. Jaros, perhaps that's why he's working as a director >and n= >ot >as a preparator any longer. = > > >Diane "On my soapbox again and holding out for moments of rational >though= >t" >Gutenkauf >