Abstract: An apparatus for preparing a sample of liquid for examination and analysis. The apparatus includes a tube closed at one end and open at the other, and a pipette dimensioned for insertion into the tube. The pipette has a sealing surface which is slightly smaller in diameter than the inside diameter of the tube. Protruding from the sealing surface is a rib which is aligned along the longitudinal axes of the pipette and which engages a portion of the inside wall of the tube to maintain the pipette in the tube.