1889.] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 9 



Notice of New Methods— YI. 



By GEORGE C. FREEBORN, M. D., 



INSTRUCTOR IN NORMAL HISTOLOGY, COLLEGE OF PHYSCIANS AND SURGEONS, NEW YORK. 



Application of Methyl Green for Demonstrating the Chemi- 

 cal Reaction and Death of .Cells. — Mosso.-Virchow's Arch., cxiii, 

 1888, p. 397. 



The author uses a 0.2?/ solution of methyl green in a 1% aqueous 

 solution of sodium chloride. A drop of this solution is placed on a 

 slide ; the finger is pricked with a needle, and the resulting drop of 

 blood is brought in slight contact with the drop of methyl green solu- 

 tion on the slide and a cover-glass put on. On observing such a prepa- 

 ration under the mciroscope, at first the leucocytes ' seem to resist 

 the action of the fluid. After a few minutes they become stained a 

 light violet color, which gradually darkens. The red cells change ; 

 some become becher formed ; others appear to become iiTegularly ex- 

 cavated in their interior, and figures, resembling those described by 

 Marchiafava and Celli as being characteristic of malarial infection, ap- 

 pear. 



For studying these changes in the cells, the preparation is placed in 

 a moist chamber, or the cover-glass is painted round with a ring of vase- 

 line, and then observed for several hours. At the end of three hours, 

 some of the leucocytes become stained bluish, others green, while 

 others, the greater number, stain an intense violet. The plasmodian 

 figures in the red cells entirely disappear and most of the cells become 

 clear. At the end of twenty-four hours, the so-called nuclei of the 

 leucocytes become stained an intense green ; the remaining parts undergo 

 a degeneration and a granular violet colored detritus remains. The 

 violet colored leucocytes, on the contrary, retain the green stained nuclei 

 and hyaline drops appear in their bodies. Some of the red cells lose 

 their haemoglobin, become colorless, and form the so-called phantoms. 

 Others, resisting cells, show differences. Some become granular and 

 stain blue-violet ; others stain a blue-violet without becoming granular ; 

 while others remain homogeneous in their centres, stain greenish-blue, 

 and surround themselves with a fine granular zone. 



If, while a drop of fresh blood from a fish is under observation, a 

 drop of the above methyl green solution is allowed to run under the 

 cover-glass, rapid changes in the cells take place. The active leucocytes 

 immediately draw in their processes, become round, and numerous small 

 globules appear in their interior. The white cells stain a pale violet 

 color. The vacuoles remain colorless, while the so-called nuclei stain 

 an intense violet. Some cells change, in a few moments, into a hya- 

 line globule with thick granules and nuclei like fragments on one side, 

 while on the other side and in the interior fine granules, in active mo- 

 tion, are seen. 



The present author has also used this methyl green solution for 

 the study of ciliated epithelium. If a piece of the mucous membrane 

 from the mouth of a frog is placed in a drop of the solution, one notices 

 the following changes : — The cell bodies stain a violet color while the 

 c*ilia are still in motion ; those in which the motion of the cilia have 

 ceased stain green. While the cilia are in motion no signs of a nucleus 

 is to be seen ; after half an hour the cilia cease to move and one or two 



