Some carbon replica techniques for the electron microscopy of small specimens and fibres

The difficulties encountered in making replicas of fibres and other small specimens are discussed, and three carbon replica methods are described. The first is designed specifically for fibres. The tedious partial embedding techniques which have hitherto been required for such specimens are eliminated. The second method is for small specimens which are difficult to handle and range between about 0.5 and 2.0 mm in size. It has not been possible to use conventional methods with these specimens. The third method is for soft biological specimens such as bacteria. Existing single-stage replica techniques failed with such specimens, largely because of the strong chemical reagents required to dissolve the organic materials. All three methods are illustrated by various applications.