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A convenient cuvette rinsing device
86
SHORT
COMMUNICATIONS
increased markedly. Thus, the time required for electrophoresis is reduced to approximately 2 hr. This technique of thin-layer starch gel electrophoresis has been used extensively by the author to study esterases in various biological materials. An example of the separation of five esterases in the duodenal contents of the young calf is illustrated in Fig. 3. In general, the quality of resolution has been equal to that obtained with a lower voltage gradient, 5 volts/cm, in gels containing 12 to 15% starch. REFERENCES 1. SMITHIES, 2. SMITHIES,
O., Biochem. O., B&hem.
J. 61, 629 (1955). J. 71, 585 (1959). HAROLD
A.
RAMSEY
Department of Animal Science North Carolina State College Raleigh, North Carolina Received July 19, 1962
A Convenient
Cuvette
Rinsing
Device
The present communication describes a simple device which could be constructed by any competent glass blower to efficiently rinse the inside of lo-mm square cuvettes with a minimum of handling. The cuvette rinser is illustrated in Fig. 1. It consists of an outer bowl 70 mm in diameter which is connected through an outlet tube to a waste sink. Fused to the bowl is a central tube with a 15-mm ball float valve. The valve is activated by the weight of the cuvette depressing a long extension of the ball which projects above the thin part of the central tube. The bottom of the central tube is connected to a reservoir of water or other wash solution by means of a rubber stopper and a length of tubing. The reservoir should be a foot or more higher than the cuvette rinser. Four notches are cut in the top of the central tube to direct the wash solution to all inside surfaces of the cuvette. In use, the cuvette is merely inverted on the central tube. The cuvette contents and wash solution are caught in the outer bowl and carried to a drain or waste receptacle. The inside of the cuvette is continuously flushed until the cuvette is removed. At no time do the outside surfaces of the cuvette get wet. To dry the cuvettes rapidly another rinser can be
87
SHORT COMMUNICATIONS
FIG. 1. Cuvette rinser.
set up with acetone as the wash solution. Alternatively, a three-way stopcock can be incorporated in the solution line to allow the use of two different solutions with a single cuvette rinser. ARTHUR WILLIAM The Warner-Lambert Morris Plains, New Received August
Research Institute Jersey 6, 1962
L. BABSON CAMPBELL
SHORT
COMMUNICATIONS
increased markedly. Thus, the time required for electrophoresis is reduced to approximately 2 hr. This technique of thin-layer starch gel electrophoresis has been used extensively by the author to study esterases in various biological materials. An example of the separation of five esterases in the duodenal contents of the young calf is illustrated in Fig. 3. In general, the quality of resolution has been equal to that obtained with a lower voltage gradient, 5 volts/cm, in gels containing 12 to 15% starch. REFERENCES 1. SMITHIES, 2. SMITHIES,
O., Biochem. O., B&hem.
J. 61, 629 (1955). J. 71, 585 (1959). HAROLD
A.
RAMSEY
Department of Animal Science North Carolina State College Raleigh, North Carolina Received July 19, 1962
A Convenient
Cuvette
Rinsing
Device
The present communication describes a simple device which could be constructed by any competent glass blower to efficiently rinse the inside of lo-mm square cuvettes with a minimum of handling. The cuvette rinser is illustrated in Fig. 1. It consists of an outer bowl 70 mm in diameter which is connected through an outlet tube to a waste sink. Fused to the bowl is a central tube with a 15-mm ball float valve. The valve is activated by the weight of the cuvette depressing a long extension of the ball which projects above the thin part of the central tube. The bottom of the central tube is connected to a reservoir of water or other wash solution by means of a rubber stopper and a length of tubing. The reservoir should be a foot or more higher than the cuvette rinser. Four notches are cut in the top of the central tube to direct the wash solution to all inside surfaces of the cuvette. In use, the cuvette is merely inverted on the central tube. The cuvette contents and wash solution are caught in the outer bowl and carried to a drain or waste receptacle. The inside of the cuvette is continuously flushed until the cuvette is removed. At no time do the outside surfaces of the cuvette get wet. To dry the cuvettes rapidly another rinser can be
87
SHORT COMMUNICATIONS
FIG. 1. Cuvette rinser.
set up with acetone as the wash solution. Alternatively, a three-way stopcock can be incorporated in the solution line to allow the use of two different solutions with a single cuvette rinser. ARTHUR WILLIAM The Warner-Lambert Morris Plains, New Received August
Research Institute Jersey 6, 1962
L. BABSON CAMPBELL