The rate of controlled drying in DNA liquid crystalline phase transition experiments often determines many characteristics exhibited by the textures observed in the microscope. The image presented above was made with a very slow rate of drying that results in batonnet formation within the cholesteric mesophase. The magnification is approximately 100x, and the image was recorded on Fujichrome 64T transparency film using a Nikon Optiphot-Pol microscope with crossed polarized illumination. Exposures were recorded about 3 f-steps under the recommended value given by an in-camera photomultiplier and were push-processed approximately 1.5 f-steps in the first E-6 developer.