At 07:44 AM 5/15/96 -0400, you wrote:

  From: "Andrew Stodden" <eos@ghost.cc.cmu.edu>
  Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 00:07:12 +0000

  > >  The tube goes into a bath of alcohol.
  > >
  > >Why?  I could see him putting in the fridge or freezer, but the
  > >tube itself probably doesn't need *disinfection*, and if the
  > >alcohol gets inside the sample will be damaged if not ruined.
  > 
  > well, when doctors seal tubes, they seal 'em good.  a test tube is
  > not like a ziplock bag.
  > 
  > and, well, considering the mess of blood and other stuff that the
  > tube is taking in, if some of it got on the outside, it'd need to be
  > dis- infected, at least in my opinion.

  The tube and the sample jar are separate items.

  The tube in question is (basically) a glass straw, and functions in 
  much the same way. I assume that all of you have done the experiment 
  where one pulls some liquid into a straw, and plugs the end with 
  a finger to hold it there? This is the practical application of that 
  experiment.

The technical term is pipette:

 n. a slender tube for transferring or measuring small quantities of
    liquids esp. in chemistry.

i've used one of these :)
man, i wasn't thinking about the story and took "tube" at face value. :)

signed, phoneynt
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       drward@richmond.infi.net