142 



Journal of Applied Microscopy. 



nique and staining. Methods of clear- 

 ing, fixing sections to the slides, gen- 

 eral methods of mounting, and the 

 more useful methods of injection are 

 demonstrated fully. 



In the histological laboratory the class 

 averages about forty students yearlj-, 

 and time is a matter of great conse- 

 quejice. It might not, therefore, be out 

 of place to state very briefly the general 

 method of procedure in the preparation 

 of a specimen, from the time the stu- 

 dent secures it from the operating room 

 until it reaches the completed state. Of 

 course, this could only apply to the ordi- 

 nary histological specimen, and is in no 

 wise intended to cover every tissue 

 which the student would require for 

 study. It is absolutely necessary, of 

 course, in order to demonstrate certain 

 points, that special methods be em- 

 ployed, but for the general methods of 

 procedure — hardening, fixing, staining, 

 and mounting — the work is conducted in 

 about this way. 



After the specimen is received the stu- 

 dent will immediately place it in the 

 hardening or fixing fluid which he has 

 been instructed is most suitable for that 

 particular kind of tissue, following the 

 general directions which apply for re- 

 ducing the specimen to a suitable size 

 and sectioning it so that the most suit- 

 able plane for study will be presented, 

 first attaching a numbered tag to it. 

 Every specimen so received has attached 

 to it a small tag which is made of pure 



stand any of the hardening, fixing or 

 corrosion fluids, and the numbers upon 

 them will never be effaced. Further- 

 more, if it is a matter of economy an('i 

 sufl[icient care is taken to avoid con- 

 fusion in duplicating numbers, they can 

 be used repeatedly. In the writer's case, 

 where the requirements in the labora- 

 tory are large, they are not used a sec- 

 ond time. After a tag is so prepared and 

 numbered, you can, with an ordinary 

 needle, perforate the tin and stitch the 

 tag securely to an end of the specimen 

 or the histological block, where it will 

 not interfere with the sectioning. Of 

 course, in some cases, and this wotilJ 

 apply particularly to embryological 

 work, it would not do to perforate any 

 part of the specimen. In that case the 

 tag might simply be carried v/ith the 

 sample specimen through the various 

 reagents and preserved with the paraffin 

 block when it has re-xcned the final 

 stage. A specimen so numbered at the 

 very beginning, the tag securely fastened 

 to the block, enables it to be identified 

 for all time, and no matter how many 

 specimens one is preparing at the S3me 

 time, they can be placed together in one 

 fluid or another, or in the jars of the 

 paraffin bath, and no confusion result. 

 Every specimen, after ir receivers its 

 number, is recorded upon index cards, 

 which for convenience, I should say, 

 should be flve inches by three inches. 

 These I have had already pritiied, as 

 shown by the accompanying exhibit. 



Index Card. 



thin sheet tin, about one inch long by one- 

 fourth inch wide. These are marked out 

 of a sheet and then the numbers are 

 stamped upon them with metal dies. If 

 it is preferred, and less time will be re- 

 quired in preparing them, tho number 

 can simply be scratched upon them with 

 a sharp instrument, and will be quite as 

 lasting. It is found, after using these 

 tags for many years, that they will with- 



If the specimen is known to be a nor- 

 mal one (pancreas, for instance), it 

 would be catalogued under the subject 

 which would appear in the head line. 

 The line headed "Class" is intended for 

 the convenience only of dividing my col- 

 lection of "normal histology," "compar- 

 ative histology," "pathology" and "tu- 

 mors." The other heading "Received" is 

 simply to indicate the source from which 



