Journal of Applied Microscopy. 



141 



monsti-ation and study, so that time may 

 be saved for the student, and what he 

 would have to devote to the prepara- 

 tion of the tissues he can turn to better 

 account in the study and comparison of 

 them. It is true that the student loses 

 much in the matter of technique, whicli 

 would be of service to him, but oppor- 

 tunity is given just as far as possible 

 outside of the hours devoted lo the 

 course for the student to acquire this 

 knowledge. Work is continually being 

 carried on in the private laboratory in 

 the preparation of tissues for students' 

 use, and as far as possible the f.tudents 

 are encouraged to lend assistance here 

 and to acquire as comprehensive a 

 knowledge as possible of the technique. 

 Every laboratory worker knows that the 

 time devoted to a first year's medical 

 course would in itself be hardly ruffl- 

 cient for the most ambitious student to 

 acquire a thorough knowledge of tech- 

 nique. It would be useless then and a 

 waste of valuable time of the student 

 to burden the course with this part of 

 the subject. The student urctoubtedly 

 turns to better account his limited time 

 in the faithful study of the well pre- 

 pared and well identified tissues and 

 structures which are furnished him. 



It might not be out of place here to 

 mention the general scheme followed in 

 the laboratory course, which has been 

 adopted after a dozen years of labora- 

 tory teaching, as it seems most consist- 

 ent with the saving of time and the ac- 

 curacy of the work necessary for the 

 guidance of the student. The methods 

 designated in the preparation of the 

 various tissues used in histological de- 

 monstration are by no means exhaus- 

 tive, but serve best in the writer's opin- 

 ion to give the beginning student a gen- 

 eral backbone method for pursuing his 

 work and placing him in a position from 

 which, as the occasion may require, he 

 can enlarge upon and follow out the 

 numerous methods so exhaustively laid 

 down in the text-books. 



In the beginning of the course the 

 student is taught the general methods of 

 the preservation of histological material, 

 the examination of the tissue in the fresh 

 state, examination of tissues in normal 

 fluids and, wherever it is possible, al- 

 thought it is not directly connected with 

 the histological subject, attention is 

 drawn in the matter of dissection to all 

 points which may be of interest and 

 benefit to the student in connection with 

 physiological work which he is pursuing 

 during the same year. Considerable op- 

 portunity is allowed the students who 

 will avail themselves of it, for actual 

 post-mortem work, as the material in a 

 hospital offers many advantages and oc- 

 casions for this class of teaching. Par- 



ticular stress is laid upon the methods of 

 preservation and the fluids best adapted 

 to the preserving of tissues, and the stu- 

 dent is well impressed with the necessity 

 of securing material in as near as pos- 

 sible a perfect or normal state. 



The methods of dissociation and cor- 

 rosion are taught thoroughly, as well as 

 the methods of decalcification. The 

 hardening of tissues and the fixing are 

 particularly dwelt upon, inasmuch as the 

 results are so much dependent upon the 

 proper conduct of the work during these 

 stages. The methods more commonly 

 employed in the laboratory at the pres- 

 ent time are the "alcohol" and "forma- 

 lin." Many of the more useful "formula" 

 solutions are taught, and their special 

 application pointed out to the student. 

 Where, however, a considerable amount 

 of work is to be done in a very limited 

 time, I have thought it best to impress 

 the student with the use chiefly of the 

 "alcohol" and "formalin," these offering 

 on the whole the best results and requir- 

 ing less expert work on the part of the 

 student in their preparation. Section 

 work is taught chiefly by the "paraffin" 

 method, with exceptions, the writer find- 

 ing it far more convenient and giving 

 much better results. The "celloidin" 

 method is taught also and demonstra- 

 tions given of its use in particular in- 

 stances where it is found by experience 

 to be best applied. 



The making of sections which are to 

 be supplied for students' "use has neces- 

 sarily been conducted by myself or my 

 laboratory assistant. It would be of the 

 greatest advantage if every student 

 could have the opportunity of doing per- 

 sonally this part of the work, but the 

 lack of prior training on the part of t)ie 

 student in the use of the delicat'j ap- 

 paratus, and the injury to knives as well 

 as instruments, rather forbids the in- 

 dividual work in this line. Furthermore, 

 the work being done by expert micro- 

 tomists, the students get uniform sec- 

 tions each of which has been espe- 

 cially cut to demonstrate to the best 

 advantage the particular subject. 



The technique of staining has been re- 

 duced to a few of the more generally 

 used stains, as we are of the opinion that 

 a few methods of staining well learned 

 give far better results with the begin- 

 ning student than a vast number which 

 so many experiment with and fail to 

 make successful. Haematoxylin, eosine, 

 carmine, and a few specially adapted to 

 the staining of nervous structures rep- 

 resent the ones in continual use. Many 

 preparations in the laboratory which 

 have been stained by special methods to 

 demonstrate certain points are at the 

 command of the student, and serve as a 

 good illustration of the special tech- 



