1896] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 31 



stained; the clumps being surrounded by a zone of deli- 

 cate fringing flagella, each being well stained and distinctly 

 outlined from its fellows. 



If a clean preparation is desired, the stain, after mixing, may 

 be filtered, but I have found that the most reliable method is 

 to use the unfiltered stain. In the case of the former a clear 

 field is produced without the detritus, etc., precipitated on the 

 glass around the micro-organisms; and all the flagella are 

 stained, but not so distinctly as with the unfiltered solution. 



If the filtered stain is used, a second stain ofanilin water con- 

 taining gentian-violet had better be used, which should be ap- 

 plied but a moment and then washed off, thus leaving a clean 

 field, showing only the bacteria lightly stained, with their flog- 

 ella still more lightly colored. 



In examining the different bacteria, I have found that the 

 bacillus of typhoid fever, the colon-bacillus, the cholera-bacil- 

 lus, and the bacillus of hog-cholera, each stained well by this 

 method, and without the addition of any acid or alkali to the 

 mordant, such as Loeffler uses. 



The bacillus of typhoid fever showed the flagella most beau- 

 tifully, and there seemed one flagellum to each cell that stained 

 more deeply than the others and appeared larger and stronger. 



As to the keeping qualities of the stain I have not fully as- 

 certained, but persumably it should be mixed daily to yield 

 the best results. — R. I. Pittfield, M. D., in The Medical News^ 



Borax Carmine as a Staining Fluid. — P. W. Squire, in 

 the "Pharmaceutical Journal," says: The use of aqueous 

 borax carmine, followed by washings with alcohol, is generally 

 accompanied by the precipitation of the coloring matter in 

 the cavity of the cell, and whilst recommending an alcoholic 

 solution of borax carmine, he states that with the formula in 

 use for animal histology, the desired result is only obtained 

 with extreme slowness. His solution, which is stated to give 

 good results in fa \7orable cases in a minimum of ten minutes, is 

 made as follows : Powdered carmine, 2 grammes; borate of so- 

 dium, 8 grammes; alcohol (70°), 200 grammes. The ingred- 

 ients are heated together in a flask for twenty minutes, using an 

 upright condenser to prevent loss of alcohol. The use of al- 

 coholic borax carmine for staining vegetable tissues is not new ; 



