INVESTIGATION OF AMERICAN STAINS 147 



is no objection to the distributor's name occurring on the label, 

 provided the stain is designated by the original name, followed 

 by the name of the manufacturer or standardizer from whom it 

 was obtained. Our chief recommendation at present is there- 

 fore that everyone buying stains from dealers in general labora- 

 tory supplies insist that the source of the stain as well as the 

 distributor's name be printed on the container. It is our hope 

 that the distributors may cooperate with us in doing this. 



When it comes to selecting between the different brands of 

 stains on the market, it must be recognized that the number of 

 dyes so far tested are so few that no general recommendations 

 can be made as yet to apply to all bacteriological dyes. The 

 present work, however, indicates that the products of Coleman 

 and Bell, the Calco Chemical Company, the Providence Chemical 

 Laboratories, and the H. S. Laboratories, all rank well. The 

 managers of the companies are willing to cooperate, and they are 

 all putting on the market stains that there is every reason to 

 believe are of strictly American make. In particular, we would 

 call attention to the extremely good showing of the Coleman and 

 Bell (formerly National Stain and Reagent Company) products. 

 This company, moreover, has been good enough to furnish the 

 committee with fairly definite specifications for those dyes so 

 far tested, an important point because one of the chief matters 

 to be kept in view is the permanence of the supply of stains. 

 There is every reason to expect that the Coleman and Bell 

 Company, given adequate support by the users of stains and 

 government protection against foreign products, wiU be able 

 to continue in the business; but if it should not, much of the 

 information obtained by this company would be at the disposal 

 of our committee to use in duplicating their products. On 

 accoimt of their willingness to cooperate and their eagerness to 

 be of service to bacteriologists, all of the Coleman and Bell 

 products — even those not yet tested — deserve a thorough trial. 



