Specimen Cylindrical Jars

Specimen jars are the vessels of the 'wet collection' — biological specimens preserved in a fixative such as formalin or alcohol for study and display. A tall, clear cylindrical jar shows a whole specimen to advantage and seals well enough to keep the fixative from evaporating over years of storage, which is why the form has been used in teaching and museum collections for generations.

Glass is essential here for its clarity and its resistance to the harsh fixatives, which would degrade many plastics over time.

Preserving and displaying biological specimens, anatomical and museum displays, teaching and dissection specimens, pathology and histology archives, zoological, botanical and veterinary collections, and research wet collections.

A tall clear cylinder in borosilicate or laboratory soda-lime glass, with a wide ground-glass joint and matched lid or a GL screw thread with a chemically resistant cap and liner. The seal must resist formalin or alcohol vapour over long-term storage. High clarity is important for display.

Fixatives such as formalin are hazardous, so jars are filled and sealed with appropriate handling and ventilation, and the closure and liner must resist the fixative without leaking vapour. Keep ground-glass lids with their own jars. Top up fixative as needed over long storage, and label clearly given the contents.

Formed into a tall clear cylinder; ground-stopper versions have the joint and lid precision-ground to a sealing fit, screw versions have a GL thread finished to standard. Annealed for stress relief. Clarity, seal integrity against fixative and lid matching are the key checks.