Plastination: A tool for teaching and research is a special issue of the anatomy journal Acta anatomica. This soft cover book contains 82 pages and 61 figures is a book for serious students of mummies. All you have to do is take a look at the price and you'll know whether you are up to the commitment that this book requires. But, believe me, the book is worth every penny. The publisher says:

"Plastination is a unique technique of tissue preservation developed by G. von Hagens in 1978. In this process, water and lipids in biological tissues are replaced by polymers such as silicone, epoxy or polyester, which are subsequently hardened, resulting in dry, odorless and durable specimens. The class of polymer used determines the optical and mechanical properties of the impregnated specimen. Silicone rubber is used for plastination of whole specimens and thick body and organ slices; epoxy resins are used for hard, thin, transparent body and organ slices; and polyester-copolymer is exclusively used for hard brain slices to gain an excellent distinction of gray and white matter.

The techniques of sheet plastination using epoxy or polyester have become very important in human and veterinary anatomy, histology and pathology. Plastinated material is frequently used in correlation with MRI and CT scans, in teaching neuroanatomy and in plastination histology. Plastination also allows the freezing of movable and flexible tissues in a particular stage, e.g. for investigating the vascularity of the lunate bone. Since the methods of plastination are still being developed, several technical articles dealing mainly with safety problems have been included in this issue.

"Offering the most up-to-date information on this promising technique, this special issue will be appreciated by human and veterinary anatomists, histologists, pathologists, radiologists as well as by clinicians like ENT and orthopedic surgeons with an interest in basic research."