DECALCIFICATION 255 



suffice. MoxcKEBERG and Retiie {Arch. mik. Anat., liv, 1899, 

 p. 135) obtain the acid by adding to 10 c.c. of a 2 per cent, solution 

 of bisulphate of sodium 2 to 4 drops of concentrated hydrochloric 

 acid. Objects arc put into the freshly prepared solution for six 

 to twelve hours. 



616. Permanganate of Potash. Alfieri {Monitore Zool. Ital., viii, 

 1897, p. 57) bleaches celloidin sections of the choroid, etc., for eight to 

 twenty-four hours in a 1 : 2000 solution of permanganate of potash, then 

 washes them out for a few hours in a solution of oxalic acid of 1 : 300 

 strength, or weaker. 



617. Grenaciier's Mixture for Eyes of Arthropods and other Animals 

 (Abh. nat. Ges. Halle-a.-S., xvi ; Zeit. wiss. Mik., 1885, p. 244). 



Glycerin . . . . . .1 part. 



80 per cent, alcohol . . . .2 parts. 



Mix and add 2 to 3 per cent, of hydrochloric acid. 



Pigments (i.e. those in question) dissolve in this fluid, and so doing 

 form a stain which suffices in twelve to twenty-four hours for staining 

 the nuclei of the preparation. 



618. Nitric Acid. Parker {Bull. Miis. Comp. Zool., Cambridge, 

 U.S.A., 1889, p. 173) treats sections (of eyes of scorpions) fixed to the 

 slide with Scuallibaum's medium, for about a minute with a solution of 

 up to 50 per cent, of nitric acid in alcohol, or, still better, with a 35 per 

 cent, solution of a mixture of equal parts of nitric and hydrochloric acid 

 in alcohol. To make the solution, the acid should be poured slowly into 

 the alcohol (not vice versd), and the mixture kept cool. 



Jander {Zeit. rviss. Mik., xv, 1898, p. 163) takes for removal of pig- 

 ments Seiler's ehromo-nitric acid (§ 606) ; twelve to forty-eight hours 

 is enough for small objects. 



See also under " Arthropoda." 



619. Caustic Soda. Rawitz {Leitfaden, p. 29) dissolves the pigment 

 of the mantle of Lamellibranchia by means of 3 to 9 drops of officinal 

 caustic soda solution added to 15 to 20 c.c. of 96 per cent, alcohol. 



620. Diaphanol, § 1184. The newest method for decolorising ehitin. 



