MEDICAL AND BIOLOGICAL STAINING TECHNIQUES 



C. Lithium carbonate o-i% aqueous. 



Technique: 



1. Stain in Ehrlich haematoxylin for five minutes. 



2. Wash in water; then stain one half to one minute in the 

 phloxine solution. 



3. Wash in tap water; then decolorize in the lithium carbon- 

 ate solution. 



4. Wash in tap water; then dehydrate in the usual manner and 

 mount in balsam. 



Results: 



Fresh hyaline appears as red droplets and threads ; while older 

 hyaline is pink to colourless ; nuclei, blue. 



PHLOXIN - METHYLENE BLUE 



Rapid smear technique for Negri bodies in brain tissue 



(J. R. Dawson's method) 



Solutions required: 



A. Phloxin 2% aqueous. 



B. Methylene Blue (Loeffler). 



Technique: 



1. The brain to be examined should be removed as quickly as 

 possible; then small segments, 3 to 4 mm. thick, are cut from 

 Ammon's horn perpendicular to its long axis and placed in a Petri 

 dish. Cut away adjacent tissue, leaving only the horn. 



2. Place a segment, cut surface downwards, on the small end 

 of a new one-inch cork; then with a matchstick, wipe peripheral 

 tissue downward and outward, so that the segment is more firmly 

 attached to the cork and the grey matter containing the pyramidal 

 cells bulges upwards. Press this gently against a scrupulously 

 clean slide, and make a smear by repeating this process along the 

 whole length of the slide. This operation should be carried out 

 rapidly before the tissue commences to dry. 



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