STAINS FOR BLOOD. 427 



G-RIESBACH also (op. cit., p. 328) prefers osmic acid, not 

 only as being a first-rate fixing agent, but because it can be 

 combined with certain stains without decomposing them. He 

 mentions methyl green, methyl violet, crystal violet, saf- 

 ranin, eosin, Saurefuchsin, rhodamin, and iodine in potassic 

 iodide. 



Rossi (Zeit. f. wiss. Mik., vi, 4, 1889, p. 475) advises a mix^ 

 ture of equal parts of 1 per cent, osmic acid, water, and 

 strong solution of methyl green, permanent mounts being 

 made by means of glycerin cautiously added. 



The mercurial liquids of PACINI ( 380), especially Nos. 2 

 and 3, are good. HAYEM (op. cit. ; see also Zeit.f. wiss. Mik., 

 vi, 3, 1889, p. 335) has a similar formula, viz. sub- 

 limate 0'5, salt 1, sulphate of soda 5, and water 200. This 

 should be mixed with blood in the proportion of about 1:100. 

 Eosin may be added to it. LOWIT'S formula (Sitzb. k.Acad. 

 Wiss. Wien, xcv, 3, p. 129; Zeit. f. wiss. Mik.,vi, 1, 1889, 

 p. 75) consists of 5 c.c. cold saturated sublimate solution, 

 5 grms. sulphate of soda, 2 grms. salt, and 300 c.c. water. 

 Mosso finds, however, that both of these are too weak in 

 sublimate. 



Of course other well-tried fixing fluids, such as Flemming's 

 solution, or Hermann's, may also be used for blood. 



804. Stains for Blood. Blood prepared as above can be 

 satisfactorily stained with many of the usual reagents. 



Eosin stains rose-red all parts of blood-corpuscles that 

 contain haemoglobin (see WISSOWSKY, Arch.f. mik. Anat., 

 1876, p. 479) ; parts that do not contain haemoglobin, such as 

 the nucleus, remaining unstained. This suggests double- 

 staining with eosin and haematoxylin. 



WISSOWSKY (1. c.) stains in a solution of equal parts of 

 eosin and alum in 200 parts of alcohol, and then with haema- 

 toxylin. 



MOOEE (The Microscope, 1882, p. 73; Journ. Roy. Mic. Soc., 

 1882, p. 714) stains for three minutes in a similar solution 

 without the alum, washes, and stains for two minutes in a 

 1 per cent, aqueous solution of methyl green. Eed corpuscles, 

 red ; nuclei and white corpuscles, bluish green. 



MERKEL'S carmine and indigo-carmine stain has been dis- 

 cussed above ( 242). 



