BLOOD SPECIES CHARACTERISTICS 48 



BODIAN METHOD 



squarely across the first slide is brought 

 in contact with the blood on the remote 

 side of the drop from the nearest end of 

 the first slide. The blood spreads 

 quickly along this edge toward the sides 

 of the slide on the table which is steadied 

 with the left hand. The end edge of the 

 second slide is slowly but steadily 

 pushed the length of the first slide and 

 the blood is drawn out in a thin layer 

 after it. The angle of inclination of the 

 second to the first slide determines the 

 thickness of the smear. It is well to 

 make the first smear at an angle of about 

 45 degrees; increase it for a thicker 

 smear and decrease it for a thinner one. 

 In the making of smears it is important 

 to have plenty of elbow room. To rnake 

 good smears is a fine art and a credit to 

 the individual. 



Blood smears, whether simply dried 

 by waving in air or thereafter fixed by 

 gently heating, retain their staining 

 properties for a few days but they 

 should be colored without undue delay. 

 However they can be kept unstained or 

 stained if protected by dipping in 

 melted paraffin (Queen, F. B., Am. J. 

 Clin. Path., Techn. Suppl., 1943, 7, 50). 

 It is both wasteful and undesirable to 

 cover the whole slide with stain. Part 

 of the slide will have to be used for 

 record written with a diamond pencil. 

 Therefore draw two lines across the 

 slide near each end with a wax pencil or 

 a piece of paraffin. The stain added 

 with a dropper will cover only theinter- 

 vening part. For stains see Giemsa, 

 Wright, Ehrlich, Oxidase, Peroxidase 

 and Gordon's Silver Method. 



For electron microscopy of blood 

 cells, see Bessis, M., Blood, 1950, 5, 

 1083-1098. 

 Blood Species Characteristics. References 

 to the literature on the blood of many 

 different kinds of animals and data on 

 their differential counts, total counts, 

 hemoglobin concentrations and so on 

 are often found of great service (Win- 

 trobe, M.M., Clinical Hematology. 

 Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger, 1942, 



703 pp.). 

 Blood Vessels. These comprise structures 

 of different sorts, existing in a wide 

 variety of environments, which can be 

 investigated from many angles. Con- 

 sequently to present examples of avail- 

 able techniques under the expected 

 headings involves a lot of mind-reading. 

 The blood vessels of the Skin are of 

 course the most accessible. Detailed 

 methods for their direct and indirect 

 study are presented by Sir Thomas 

 Lewis (The Blood Vessels of the Skin 

 and their Responses. London: Shaw 

 & Sons, 1927, 322 pp.). 



But to microscopically examine all 

 the blood vessels of any particular organ 

 is not possible in the living state because 

 of lack of accessibility, thickness and 

 other mechanical obstacles. Resort is 

 therefore made to various devices for 

 viewing the vessels by themselves 

 unobscured by surrounding tissue. The 

 unwanted tissue is removed by corrosion 

 when the vessels are demonstrated by 

 Neoprene injection. It is simply 

 passed over when x-ray photographs 

 are examined after the vascular injec- 

 tion of radiopaque substances like 

 Bismuth Sulphate and Diotrast. It is 

 rendered transparent when the vessels 

 are filled with easily visualized materials 

 such as Carmine or Berlin Blue, or is 

 relatively colorless after their walls are 

 selectively stained by Janus Green, 

 Silver Citrate or Silver Chloride Di- 

 chlorfluoresceinate. See red lead and 

 glue method for blood vessels of nerves 

 (Epstein, J., Anat. Rec, 1944, 89, 65- 

 69). 



Though the larger blood vessels are 

 too thick and cumbersome for micro- 

 scopic study in vivo, this is not so with 

 the smaller ones. Indeed excellent 

 moving pictures can be made of them. 

 A film entitled "Control of Small Blood 

 Vessels" by G. P. Fulton and P. R. 

 Lutz of Boston University is very help- 

 ful. The supravital method of studying 

 Nerve Endings with methylene blue 

 must be combined with careful dissec- 

 tions (Woollard, H. H., Heart, 1926, 13, 

 319-336) in order to gain an impression 

 of the innervation of blood vessels. See 

 Arteries, Arterioles, Capillaries, Sinus- 

 oids, Venous Sinuses, Venules, Arterio- 

 venous Anastomoses, Veins, Vasa 

 Vasorum, Valves, Perfusion. See 

 Quartz Rod Technique. 

 Bodian Method. For staining nerve fibers 

 in paraffin sections (Bodian, D., Anat. 

 Rec, 1937, 69, 153-162; MacFarland, 

 W. E. and Davenport, H. A., Stain 

 Tech., 1941, 16, 53-58). The following 

 details of this very useful technique 

 have been supplied by Dr. J. L. O'Leary. 

 Fix by vascular perfusion, with 80% 

 alcohol containing 5% formol and 5% 

 acetic acid, or by immersion in 10% 

 formalin or Bouin's fluid. For boutons 

 terminaux, perfuse tissue with 10% 

 chloral hydrate and extract tissue with 

 alcohol for several weeks. Run paraffin 

 sections (15/i or less) to aq. dest. Place 

 in 1% Protargol (Winthrop Chemical 

 Co.) with 4-6 gms. of metallic copper 

 per 100 cc. (This can be used only 

 once.) Wash in redistilled water 1 

 change. Transfer for 10 min. to : hydro- 

 chinone, 1 gm.; sodium sulfite, 5 gm.; 

 aq. dest., 100 cc. Wash in redistilled 



