and Laboratory Methods. 1781 



A Method for Cleaning Slides. 



Make a strong solution of the washing powder known as " Gold Dust." 

 Heat to the boiling point and stir down the froth that will rise to the top. This 

 froth does no particular damage if some of it should remain, but for the sake of 

 the esthetic sense it may be skimmed off if desired. Remove the boiling hot 

 solution from the stove or flame, and dump in as many slides as you please to 

 the limit of capacity of the dish. The slides may be either soft fresh ones, or 

 old dry ones, it makes no difference to the solution. Leave them in the solu- 

 tion for half an hour, or until it has cooled sufficiently to work with comfortably, 

 stirring the slides around occasionally. They will not need to be handled with 

 the fingers. Now remove the slides to clear water and rinse. They may now 

 be wiped dry or put through an alcohol bath and then wiped. 



If the solution is hot enough and strong enough the slides will be found 

 clean of balsam or any other mounting medium, and free from any other dirt 

 and from all stains. If one bath should prove insufficient another one should 

 be effective. Usually one is enough. 



The slides must not be boiled, as boiling will pretty surely chip and check 

 them, if it does not break them into bits. But the boiling hot solution will not 

 injure them. I have never used any other washing powder, so am unable to 

 say whether others may be as good. I use this method for practically all of 

 the laboratory washing, especially for stained dishes, with entirely satisfactory 

 results. I have found no stains which do not yield to the hot solution. 



The advantage of this method over all others which I have tried is its clean- 

 liness and its thoroughness in removing every vestige of the sticky balsam with- 

 out the necessity of pushing the covers off or of touching the slides with the 

 fingers before they are clean. Its death dealing qualities to all stains is enough 

 to recommend it. Lynds Jones. 



Oberlin College. 



Preparation of Bone Sections. 



The prerequisites for the following method of preparing bone sections are a 

 fine-toothed saw, a triangular file, water, balsam, mucilage, slides, cover-glasses, 

 and an oblong piece of wood, 1x1x2 cm. in size. 



Cut transverse slices of tissue from the shaft of some long bone, human or 

 otherwise, and of any convenient size, having a thickness of 2 or 3 mm. Polish 

 one surface on the dry whetstone and stick this polished surface to a smooth 

 side on the block of wood with mucilage. Allow it to dry thoroughly in the air 

 or in a hot air chamber. With the saw cut away most of the section, grasp the 

 block of wood with the fingers and rub the specimen on the wetted whetstone 

 until it is so thin that the grain of the wood can be clearly seen through it. 

 Now soften the mucilage by means of a little hot water if necessary to remove 

 the specimen from the block. Place tne section of bone on the wetted whetstone 

 and rub back and forth with the ball of the finger until the papilla; thereof are 

 distinctly visible ; dry, clean by rubbing between the fingers, mount in balsam as 

 described below, and properly label. 



Place a small quantity of very thick balsam on the center of the slide, and 

 another small quantity on the cover-glass ; place the section on the slide and 

 press the cover-glass firmly down. 



Students who are unaccustomed to laboratory work make sections rapidly 

 and well, and are able to successfully demonstrate the structure of bone. By 

 this simple process any student not familiar with histological technique can 

 make a longitudinal and a transverse preparation in an hour, exclusive of the 

 time required for drying. J. F. Burkholder. 



Illinois Medical College. 



