186 



THE AMERICAN MONTHLY 



[July, 



meeting should have. Committees 

 are to report on eye-pieces, on revi- 

 sion of the constitution, and on " the 

 question of a quarterly journal." We 

 trust the report on eye-pieces will be 

 carefully prepared. That committee 

 has a work of responsibility in charge, 

 and while a thoroughly sensible re- 

 port on the subject may result in 

 much benefit, a hasty, ill-considered 

 report will do more harm than good. 



It is to be hoped that the consti- 

 tution of the Society will be satisfac- 

 torily arranged this year. 

 o 



Physicians as Microscopists. — 

 The Medical Register does not agree 

 with the opinions expressed some 

 time ago in these columns, as regards 

 the "lamentable ignorance concern- 

 ing the microscope among" physi- 

 cians. The writer attempts to refute 

 our conclusions by stating that the 

 best books we have on microscopy are 

 written by physicians. The ques- 

 tion is not of who writes the books, 

 but who reads them. Is the entire 

 medical profession to bolster itself up 

 in this matter, because half-a-dozen 

 of its members are eminent micro- 

 scopists ? 



Why should not the Medical Regis- 

 ter admit the fact, which almost every- 

 body knows, that medical education 

 in this country is, in most institutions, 

 a mere farce. Instead of flattering 

 its readers into good humor, by tell- 

 ing them they are pretty good fellows 

 after all, and can rely upon Beale 

 and Carpenter and half-a-dozen others 

 to keep up the credit of the profes- 

 sion as microscopists, why not " pitch 

 into" the medical colleges and make 

 them teach histology with micro- 

 scopes, and thus try to do some good 

 in the world ? 



We have to thank the Buffalo Medi- 

 cal and Surgical Journal for a very 

 courteous notice of our paper. We 

 would be glad to know that it was as 

 well appreciated by the medical press 

 in general. 



o 



Double Staining of Blood-cor- 

 puscles. — We have already called at- 



tention to the fine slides of double- 

 stained blood-corpuscles prepared by 

 Dr.AUen Y. Moore, which were shown 

 to us by Mr. Woolman. The preparer 

 has now given his process in The Mi- 

 croscope, and a gorgeously colored 

 plate, showing several kinds of blood- 

 corpuscles stained, accompanies the 

 article. In brief the process is as fol- 

 lows: The blood is evenly spread in 

 a thin film on the slide, and dried, in 

 the usual manner. It is then cov- 

 ered with a solution containing eosin 

 5 grains, water 4 drachms, alcohol 4 

 drachms. In about three minutes 

 this is washed off in a glass of water, 

 and without drying a solution con- 

 taining methyl-green 5 grains, and i 

 ounce of water is flowed over the slide. 

 In about two minutes the slide is 

 washed, dried, and the corpuscles 

 preserved in Canada balsam. 



Staining Bacteria. — Dr. Ehr- 

 lich, assistant of Prof. Koch, has 

 devised a method of staining the 

 bacteria of tubercle, which is said to 

 be much superior to that of Koch, 

 who has has himself adopted it. 



The bacteria of tubercle, like all 

 micro-organisms, are stained by ani- 

 lin colors. Koch employed an alkali 

 — caustic potash — to penetrate the 

 cellulose coat of the bacteria, but as 

 this alkali-acts strongly upon various 

 histological elements, and also upon 

 the bacteria, Ehrlich has used as a 

 substitute for it phenylamine, or ani- 

 lin (anilin-oil). 



A solution of phenylamine in water 

 is prepared, and a saturated solution 

 of fuchsin, or methyl-violet, is added 

 to it until a slight opalescence is pro- 

 duced. The material to be stained 

 is dried on the cover-glass and then 

 stained by the solution, which re- 

 quires about a quarter of an hour. 

 The entire specimen is thus stained 

 intensely. To demonstrate the bac- 

 teria, the color is discharged from 

 parts of the preparation by acid. 

 Nitric acid diluted with twice its 

 volume of water is used. 



