1894.] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 373 



little effect and will rarely cause the protrusion and de- 

 tachment of platelets. The more delicate the reticulum 

 the more effective will be the result of its contractions, 

 the more so if haemoglobin is scarce and of a more 

 liquid consistency. Contraction of the living matter in 

 this instance will easily yield knob-like protrusions over 

 the periphery of the red blood corpuscles which knobs 

 being detached will appear in the shape of platelets 

 floating in the serum of the blood. 



In my judgement the presence of platelets in the 

 blood in large numbers is not a pathological feature as 

 such, but merely an indication of a pathological condi- 

 tion of the system. Every chronic disease that causes a 

 wasting of the living matter and a decrease in the 

 amount of haemoglobin will cause the appearance of 

 platelets in considerable numbers within the vascular 

 system. 



A Note on the Use of Anise Oil in Histological Methods 



with Special Reference to its Value in Cutting Serial 



Sections on the Freezing Microtome. 



By VERANUS a. MOORE, M. D., 

 WASHINGTON, D. C. 



In 1892 Kuhne(*) called attention to the value of 

 anise oil as an embedding medium for animal tissues 

 to be cut on a freezing microtome. The process recom- 

 mended by him was to fix the tissue in alcohol, after 

 which small pieces not to exceed one or two millimeters 

 in thickness are placed in absolute alcohol for a few 

 hours, after which they are immersed in anise oil for 

 from 12 to 24 hours. At the expiration of that time they 

 are ready for sectioning. The piece to be cut is prop- 



*Ceutrablatt f. Bakteriologie u. Parasitenknnde, XIII. 



