THE PREPARATION OF MICROSCOPIC OBJECTS. 7 
B. Teasing. 
The object of teasing is to separate the several parts of a 
tissue or organ from one another as completely as possible, in 
order to show their minute structure. 
The fragment to be teased should be placed on a slide ina 
drop of the medium in which it is to be mounted, and then 
torn up into as minute particles as possible by means of a couple 
of needles held one in each hand. The process is often greatly 
facilitated by placing the slide on a piece of black paper, which 
renders the particles easier to see. When torn up as finely as 
possible, a coverglass is placed on as before. The two rules to 
be borne in mind in teasing are— 
1. Take a very small fragment to commence with. 
2. Tease it as finely as you possibly can. Your object is to 
separate the component cells from one another. 
C. Maceration. 
The process of teasing is in many cases very greatly facilitated 
by previously macerating the specimen, z.e., soaking it in some 
fluid, which, while preserving the individual cells, tends to 
loosen their connections with one another. The most important 
macerating fluids are— 
1, Ranvier’s Alcohol. A mixture of one part of strong spirit 
with two parts of water. The specimens should be put fresh 
into this preparation and allowed to remain twenty-four hours. 
2. Baryta Water. Very useful for isolating the individual 
cells of tendons. 
3. Muller’s Fluid. A solution of bichromate of potash with 
a little sodic sulphate in water. 
D. Staining. 
Various reagents are employed for the purpose of staining 
preparations ; some of these merely colour the whole prepara- 
tion more or less uniformly, but the most useful ones are those 
which stain certain parts of the cells only, or at any rate stain 
these much more strongly than the other parts. The most im- 
portant are: 
1, Hematoxylin. There are various preparations of hsma- 
toxylin, or logwood, used in microscopical work : the best is that 
proposed by Kleinenberg and called by his name. It is pre- 
pared thus :— 
