1888.] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 53 



The specimens, saturated with celloidin. are placed in oil of origanum. 

 Then in a mixture of oil of origanum and paratfin heated to 40° C. Then 

 in melted paraffin. 



The time which the specimens are to remain in the oil of origanum, in the 

 paraffin mixture, and in the melted paraffin, depends upon the nature and size 

 of the specimens. The imbedded specimens can be kept in the dry state, and 

 it is not necessary to use alcohol in cutting. 



- — -o 



Carmine Staining.* Kultschizky. — 



1. Acid Chloral Hydrate Carmine. Chloral hydrate 10 gms., Hydric 

 chloride 2 per cent, solution, 100 c.c. To this fluid is added 0.75 to 1.5 

 gms. of pulverized carmine, and the mixture heated, in a flask, to the boiling 

 point for one to one and a half hours. To prevent evaporation, the flask is 

 fitted with a cork, through which a long glass tube is passed. The mixture 

 is now allowed to stand, at the room temperature, for twenty-four hours, 

 then filtered and the filtrate used for staining. 



The author claims that this carmine solution stains protoplasm, nuclei, 

 fibrous tissue, etc., different shades of red. If a sharp nuclei stain is wanted, 

 then the sections are washed in a 2 per cent, solution of alum, when the 

 nuclei take a violet tint. 



2. Neutral Chloral Hydrate Car?jiine. This stain is prepared in the 

 same manner as the above, except the hydric chloride is omitted. This car- 

 mine mixes well with Grenacher's alum carmine, whereby a double staining 

 fluid is obtained, which gives red and violet shades. These solutions keep 

 for a long time without betoming mouldy. 



o 



A New Staining Medium. f Gustav Plattner. — The author recom- 

 mends a new black dveing solution that comes from Russia, and which he 

 obtained of Dr. Griibler, in Leipzig. According to the latter, it is a metal 

 base combined with an acid of an organic nature. The dye, in dilute solu- 

 tions, stains only nuclei, nucleoli, and axis cvlinders ; connective tissue, pro- 

 toplasm, and myelin remaining uncolored. In concentrated solutions it 

 stains, in shades corresponding to the degree of concentration, all tissue 

 elements. For decoloration, alkaline solutions are used. Five or six drops 

 of ammonium hydrate to a watch-glass of water makes a suitable decoloring 

 fluid. vSalts of the alkalies may also be used ; of these, the author gives the 

 preference to lithium carbonate in a saturated solution in water. 



Sections are stained in the dye for a few" minutes. Those of tissues hard- 

 ened in Flemming's fluid require twenty-four hours. The time that they 

 should remain in the decolorizing fluid depends upon the eflect wanted and 

 the intensity of the stain. By this method of staining, an intense black nuclei 

 stain is obtained, whicli brings out the karyokinetic figures well. It is also 

 a good stain for micro-photography. 



Shellac Cement.! 



By W. N. seaman, 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 



Take 50 grammes of unbleached shellac, add to it 50 c.c. of commercial 

 alcohol, and then cover the mixture with an equal quantity of kerosene oil. 

 Shake the mixture frequently for the first two or three days, and then set it 

 away for a month, or until it separates into four layers, as follows, beginning 

 at the top : — 



* 3 f. w. Mikros., iv, p 46, 1887. t 3 f. w. Mikros., Lv, p. 349, 1887. 



4: Presented at the 70th meeting Wash. Mic. Soc. 



