520 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



in acid-free toluol or xylol and mounted in neutral balsam. The 

 preparations should be kept in the dark. It is claimed that by this 

 method the leucocytes are demonstrable in post mortem material. 



Staining Granular Red Corpuscles.* — F. Widal, P. Abrami, and 

 M. Brule fix blood-stains intra vitam in the following manner. A few 

 drops of blood are received into a mixture consisting of 10 p.c. sodium 

 chloride, 1 c.cm. 2 p.c. oxalate of potassium, 1 c.cm. Unna's blue or azur- 

 blue 20 drops. After allowing the solution to act for some 10 minutes, 

 the mixture is centrifuged and the deposit spread on slides and fixed by 

 the aid of heat in the usual way. 



Simple Method of Microbe Staining.f — A. Rosam recommends the 

 following staining solution, composed of a mixture of f safranin and 

 J methylen-blue. The pigments are first dissolved in alcohol, and this 

 concentrated spirituous solution is further diluted with equal quantities 

 of spirit and water. After this, 10 p.c. ammonia is added. The 

 ammonia facilitates the penetration of the dye. In practice, a drop of 

 the staining solution is placed on the slide which already carries the 

 material to be examined. This latter has been moistened with water, 

 and after a coverslip has been imposed, the preparation may be 

 examined. 



The staining solution easily deteriorates, and requires to be made 

 afresh at least once a fortnight. 



x &' 



Simple Method of Spore Staining.! — R. Wirtz fixes the films in 

 osmic acid vapour and then floods the cover-slip with 5 p.c. malachite- 

 green solution ; heats to vaporisation and repeats the heating twice at 

 short intervals. The film is then washed with carbol-fuchsin diluted 

 five times and at once washed in running water. Treated in this way 

 the rodlets are stained red and the spores pale green. The method is 

 specially applicable to Tetanus. 



Modification of the Romanowsky Stain. § — J. Bruckner dissolves 

 by aid of heat 1 grin, methylen-blue in 100 c.cm. of distilled water ; 

 after cooling down, 15 c.cm. of decinormal soda solution are added, or 

 6 cgs. of sodium hydrate in powder previously dissolved in 10 c.cm. of 

 distilled water. The mixture is incubated at 37° for five days to ripen the 

 blue, and then 50 cgs. of eosin dissolved in 50 c.cm. H 2 are added. 

 After being well shaken the mixture is allowed to rest for a couple of 

 hours. The precipitate is gathered on a filter and then washed with 

 500 c.cm. distilled water. The filter with the precipitate is kept at 37° 

 until dry (about 24 hours) and then the precipitate is dissolved in 

 100 c.cm. of methyl alcohol. After 24 hours the solution is filtered. 



In order to stain blood 1 c.cm. of the stock solution is mixed with 

 5 c.cm. of methylic alcohol and poured over the dried but unfixed film, 

 and after ten minutes 10-12 drops of distilled water are added. After 

 a lapse of five minutes the film is washed with water, dried and mounted 



* C.R. Soc. Biol. Paris, lxiv. (1908) pp. 496-9 (1 fig.). 

 t Centralbl. Bakt.,2te Abt., xx. (1908) pp. 724-5. 

 X Centralbl. Bakt., lteAbt. Orig., xlvi. (1908) pp. 727-8. 

 § C.R. Soc. Biol. Paris, lxiv. (1908) pp. 968-9. 



