This technique is useful for creating permanent impressions of epidermal anatomy.  It can be applied to fresh material or to dried herbarium specimens.  Sometimes a preliminary hydration step is found to be necessary in the case of herbarium material.  A similar technique is employed to make coal ball peels.  With coal balls, an initial etching step with Hydrochloric Acid dissolves the mineral matric surrounding the fossilized material is performed, followed by a water rinse, before making the peel.

A.  Place a leaf on a glass slide.

B.  Flood the surface with acetone.

C.  Quickly place a piece of cellulose acetate over  the flooded surface.

D.  Exert firm equal pressure on the top of this preparation with another glass slide for ca. 1 minute.

E.  Peel off the cellulase acetate and mount on a different microscope slide with cover slip for microscopic observations.

F.  Peels will keep indefinitely.