Journal of Applied Microscopy. 



69 



Iron Haematoxylin, Bizzozero's modifi- 

 cation of Gram's method, Anilin-Water- 

 Gentian-Violet, several acid fuchsin 

 stains, and several unpublished stain- 

 ing methods. The following bibliog- 

 raphy contains only those articles 

 referred to in this paper: 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 



Flemming, '73: Eine Einbettungs methode. 

 Arch. f. mikr. Anat. 9:123-125. 



Kadyi, H., '79: Seife als Einbettungs-masse 

 bein Anfertigen Mikdoskopischen Schnitte. 

 Zool. Anz. 37: 476-479. 



Lee, A. B., '93: The Microtomists' Vade- 

 Mecum, 3rd. Edit. 18S-191. 



Pfitzer, E., '87: Ueber eine Einbettungs- 

 Methode fuer Entwickelungsge-schichtliche 

 Untersuchungen, Ber. d. Deut. bot. Gesell, 

 6: LXV-LXVIII. 



Poll, A., '89: Note die Microtecnica, Mal- 

 pighia 3:77-84. Also see for the same, Jour- 

 nal Royal Microscopical Society. 835-836, 1889. 



Salensky, W. '77: Ueber die Knospung der 

 Salpen Morph. Jahrb. 3:549-602. pi. 28-30. 



PI Mead Wilcox. 



Lab. of Veg. Physiology, Harvard Uni- 

 versity, Cambridge, Mass, Feb. 8, 1898. 



Dehydrating and Infiltrating in a 

 Vacuum. 



Ernest B. Sangree, A. M., M. D. 



The best microscopical work is usually 

 that done in a methodical and rather 

 sedate manner, but it often happens in 

 clinical microscopy that celerity is the 

 dominant feature, as the specimens are 

 prepared purely for diagnosis. In the 

 matter of a suspected growth, for in- 

 stance, the surgeon sometimes wants to 

 know instantly, if possible, what the 

 microscope has to say. Where there is 

 such haste, I use COj freezing appar- 

 atus; and I have received a chip from a 

 tumor while the surgeon was at work 

 and given him a diagnosis before he had 

 completed the operation; but this is not 

 satisfactory microscopy. 



I wish to speak of a method of rapid 

 hardening and embedding that does give 

 good result^: and gives them quickly. It 

 is hardening and embedding in a 

 vacuum. One of course needs good 

 water pressure. I have a cheap pump 

 which cost $1.50, but the water pressure 

 is so good that from twenty-seven to 

 twenty-nine and one-half inches are 

 easily gotten. In order to know just 

 wh.it vacuum one has, it is necessary to 

 have a manometer. With a little glass 

 tubing this can easily be made, and the 

 cost is nothing. Mine consists of a 

 piece of glass tubing about two yards 

 long (see Fig. 1), connected at one end 

 with a T glass tube, which in turn is 

 connected with the pump and also with 

 whatever apparatus is beyond, and the 

 other end stands in a small bottle of 



mercury. At the back of the glass tube 

 is fastened a yardstick, given away by 

 a wall-paper man as an advertisement. 

 The whole is attached to the wall. 



Illustration: Last evening I was 

 handed some uterine curettings for an 

 opinion as to the probability of cancer. 

 An immediate report was wanted. To 

 fix them, I put the scrapings in a mix- 

 ture of nine parts of Mueller's fluid and 

 one part formalin, a most excellent fixa- 

 tive. This morning the tissue was 

 washed for an hour in running water. It 

 was immediately transferred to a four- 

 ounce bottle containing two ounces of 

 absolute alcohol, and the bottle was 

 attached to the vacuum apparatus. In 

 two hours the specimens were hard. They 

 were taken to the paraffin oven and put 

 into a bottle, which can also be attached 

 to the vacuum apparatus. Here they 

 were allowed to stay under twenty-nine 

 inches of mercury for two hours. At 

 the end of that time, they were blocked, 

 the paraffin solidified in water and sec- 

 tioned forthwith. In other words, the 

 specimen was received at 6 o'clock one 

 evening, and paraffin sections were cut 

 the next day at noon. 



That every process was satisfactorily 

 performed is shown by the fact that, 

 although the specimen consisted mainly 

 of necrotic tissue, loose fibrin, and blood 

 clots, yet the sections cut to fifteen mic- 

 romillimeters, and the staining and 

 definition of the cells were all that could 

 be desired. 



Medical Dept. Vanderbilt University, 

 Nashville, Tenn. 



The summer course of the Marine Bio- 

 logical Laboratory at Wood's Hall, 

 Mass., opens June 29th. A large attend- 

 ance is expected. 



