CONNECTIVE TISSUE CORPUSCLES. 73 



can be taken for the complete display of the film. 

 This being effected, a cover-glass (which should have 

 been previously cleaned and placed in readiness) is 

 taken, wetted on its under surface with a drop of 

 salt solution, and quickly superposed over the film 

 of tissue, which is thus prevented from shrinking up 

 again into a shapeless mass. The fibres, both white 

 (in wavy bundles of various sizes) and the elastic, 

 and corpuscles may now be carefully observed, at 

 first with the usual high power and afterwards with 

 the highest obtainable, and some of the corpuscles 

 should be sketched. Moreover, search may be made 

 for lymph or pale blood-corpuscles, a very few of 

 which are generally to be found in the connective 

 tissue; they are readily distinguished from the fixed 

 corpuscles of the tissue by their small size small, 

 obscure, and generally multiple nuclei and espe- 

 cially their amoeboid movements, of which it is pro- 

 bable no trace will be apparent even to the most 

 assiduous observation in the connective tissue cells 

 proper. 



Preparation 4. Although both corpuscles and 

 elastic fibres may be seen in a preparation of this 

 kind made with an indifferent fluid, they are better 

 seen if the white fibres are acted upon by acetic acid, 

 and still better if this action is combined with that 

 of some staining reagent, so that the corpuscles are 

 brought more prominently into view. Moreover, 

 the preparation admits of being permanently pre- 

 served in glycerine after such a method of treat- 

 ment. Up to a certain stage the procedure is the 

 same as that above described, but instead of placing 

 salt solution upon the cover-glass, before inverting 

 it over the film, a solution of acetic acid (one per 

 cent.) colored by the addition to it of one-third its 

 volume of logwood-alum solution, is employed. The 

 object is examined as quickly as possible after the 

 application. 



The connective tissue corpuscles can probably be 

 made out already in the thinner parts of the prepa- 



