672 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



is again washed and then stained with acid f uchsin-picric acid according 

 to Altmann's procedure. The illustrations seem to bear out the author's 

 contention. 



Detection of Tubercle bacilli in Faeces.* — R. W. Philip and 

 Agnes E. Porter advocate the use of antiformin, a mixture of alkali 

 hypochlorite and alkali hydrate for detecting tubercle bacilli in faeces. 

 A piece, a cubic J in. in size, is placed in a conical glass and to this 

 about 20 c.cm. antiformin, which has been diluted with water to 15 p.c., 

 is added. After well mixing up, a similar quantity of the dilute anti- 

 formin is added and the process repeated. After standing for about an 

 hour a white layer appears. From this white curdy layer a drop is 

 taken and placed on a slide along with a drop of albuminous water. A 

 film made in the usual way is then stained with carbol-fuchsin and 

 methylen-blue and afterwards decolorized with alcohol and acid. 



Staining Trypanosoma dimorphon.f — E. Hindle smears a thin 

 layer of albumen on a slide ; on this a drop of blood or piece of an 

 organ is smeared in the usual way, and the slide dropped face downwards 

 into a jar of Fleinrning's strong solution. After 5 minutes or so it is 

 removed and washed with water, and then passed through upgraded 

 alcohols to absolute ; after this it is removed to 80 p.c. alcohol con- 

 taining iodine and potassium iodide ; after an immersion of about 

 10 minutes it is passed into alcohols downgraded to 30 p.c. ; it is then 

 stained by either of the following methods : — 



1. The film is stained in anilin-safranin for about an hour ; after 

 a wash in water it is treated with 1 p.c. aqueous solution of polychrome 

 methylen-blue for one hour. The slide is again washed and then differ- 

 entiated with Unna's orange-tannin ; it is then passed through water, 

 upgraded alcohols to anilin oil, cleared in xylol and mounted in balsam. 



2. The film is mordanted for one hour in 3*5 p.c. aqueous solution 

 of iron-alum and then stained for a similar time in " 5 p.c. aqueous 

 solution of hematoxylin, artificially ripened with a few drops of lithium 

 carbonate solution. The preparation is then differentiated in iron-alum 

 and mounted in the usual way. 



Method of Staining Deep Colonies in Plate Cultures.! — E. Dodson 

 cuts out the colony from the agar-plate with a wet chisel and deposits it 

 on a slide. The preparation is then dried at 37° C. and afterwards 

 soaked in methylated spirit for 20 minutes. Surface crystals are now 

 removed by immersion in 5 p.c. acetic acid for about 10 minutes. After 

 this wash and dry in incubator for about 20 minutes. When dry pour 

 on " Stephens' scarlet writing fluid " and allow to act until the colony 

 is well stained, from 10 to 20 minutes. Mop up the superfluous fluid, 

 and then pour on Loeffler's methylen-blue diluted with an equal volume 

 of distilled water. Tilt the slide until the agar turns violet ; to attain 

 this end the preparation must be treated twice with blue. Next wash 

 with water and then decolorize with alcohol until no more blue comes 



* Brit. Med. Journ. (1910) ii. pp. 184-5. 



f Univ. California Publications (Zool.) vi. (1909) pp.«127-42 (3 pis.). 



X Lancet (1910) ii. pp. 310-11 (3 figs.). 



