1880.] 



MICKOSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 



143 



by turning a still larger circle of 

 cement upon the upper surface of 

 the slide and attaching a larger thin 

 glass circle {d), 



I have found this a cheap and 

 useful culture-cell ; and do not see 

 why it should not also serve a good 

 purpose as a cell in which to mount 

 objects either dry or in fluid. If 

 the manufacturers will furnish us 

 glass slips of different thicknesses, 

 having central perforations of % to 

 >^-inch in diameter, we can easily 

 attach a thin glass cover to make 

 the bottom to the cell, and I see no 

 reason why these should not, for 

 many purposes, replace the various 

 cells in common use. 



A Simple and Speedy Method 



of Staining Animal and 



TegetaWe Sections.* 



BY B. W. LOOMIS, M.D. 



After cutting the sections, wash 

 them in water, and allow them to 

 soak for a while. 



Transfer them to a solution of 

 anllin violet in commercial acetic 

 acid ; the solution to be of the fol- 

 lowing composition : — 



Aniliu violet . . 1 part. 



Acetic acid . . . 300 parts. 



The sections are to be left in the 

 solution "until sufficiently stained, 

 which may be determined by re- 

 moving them from the solution to 

 clean water. If sufficiently blue, 

 they are then ready to be mounted. 

 If not sufficiently colored, return 

 to the solution. 



The sections are mounted, after 

 the staining, by transferring them 

 to a clear glass slide, draining off 

 any excess of fluid and adding a 

 drop of solution of acetate of potash 

 of the following strength : 



Acetate of potash . . 1 oz. 



Water 5^ oz. 



* Report of a paper read before the 

 Central New York Microscopical Society. 



Cover, and fasten the cover with 

 varnish, permanently if you wish. 



The advantages of this method 

 are its simplicity and the beauty of 

 the results attained. The disad- 

 vantages are that the specimens 

 may fade within a year or two. 



This method is taken from Orth's 

 recent work on histology, and is 

 one strongly recommended for de- 

 monstrating the structure of car- 

 tilage. 



Sykacuse, N. Y. 



-o- 



On the Double and Treble Stain- 

 ing of Animal Tissues, with 

 a Note on Cleaning Thin 

 Cover-Glasses.* 



By Heneage Gibbes, m. b., 



F. E. S. M. 



While engaged last year in an 

 examination into the structure of 

 the Vertebrate spermatozoon, I tried 

 the effect of a large number of 

 staining agents, and succeeded at 

 last in staining the head and body 

 of the spermatozoon of Triton 

 cristatus different colors, showing 

 thereby a different chemical re- 

 action. This led me to try these 

 stains on sections of animal tissues, 

 and the specimens under the mi- 

 croscopes will show with what re- 

 sults. It may be interesting to 

 give a few details of the different 

 processes I have used, in the hope 

 that some one who have more 

 leisure than myself may work out 

 the subject thoroughly. 



The flrst double-stain to be men- 

 tioned is the well-known picrocar- 

 mine and logwood, which gives 

 very good results in sections of 

 skin and other parts. I have also 

 found it answer better than any 

 other stain in an investigation into 

 the development of spermatozoa, in 



* From Journal Royal Microscopical So- 

 ciety. 



