700 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



cent, osmic acid, 1 part ; 5 per cent, arsenic acid, 20 parts. The 

 muscle Laving been washed, is exposed for three hours to the sun- 

 light at a temperature of 45° in a bath of 1 per cent, arsenic acid 

 solution. The glycerin and hydrochloric acid mixture is used for 

 clearing up. In successful preparations the nerve with its hypo- 

 lemmal parts is stained throughout. 



Demonstrating Nerve-endings in Striated Muscular Fibre of 

 Man.* — For this purpose Prof. M. Flesch proceeds as follows : — 



The muscles are placed as soon as possible post mortem in a 

 0*6 per cent, gold chloride solution until they appear of a straw 

 yellow colour ; they are then exposed to the light in dilute acetic or 

 formic acid. After reduction has taken place, the muscle is ready for 

 examination. Hardening is dono in alcohol and imbedding in tallow 

 and paraffin without previous saturation with turpentine or chloro- 

 form. 



The author calls attention to the fact that in one and the same 

 specimen, differences of staining are discernible after treatment with 

 gold chloride ; these in some measure depend upon the unequal 

 saturation of the muscle with the gold solution, but in greater part aro 

 to be referred to structural differences of the muscular fibres. Differ- 

 ences of staining in reference to intensity and quality are distin- 

 guished, the former depending on the histological non- equivalence of 

 individual fibres ; the latter consisting in the staining showing 

 every transition stage from rose through purple-red, and violet to 

 pure blue. 



Demonstrating an Endothelial Element of the Primitive Nerve 

 Sheath.f — To show the intercellular substances in the vicinity 

 of the nuclei of Schwann's sheath, Dr. A. Gruenhagen teases out the 

 nervus ischiadicus of the frog ; then pours over the preparation for 

 two or three minutes some drops of a 1/2 per cent, solution of silver 

 nitrate. He then washes with H 2 0, dehydrates in absolute alcohol, 

 stains with concentrated ha3inatoxylin, dehydrates again, and mounts in 

 balsam. 



Preparing Batrachian Larvae and Regulating the Circulation.! — 

 Dr. S. Mayer describes two methods of much technical interest. 



The first is a process by which living larvaB can be fixed for 

 microscopic research in a very short time, and this without damage, 

 as is the case with curara injection. It consists first in passing a 

 moderately strong current through the brain and cord, and then 

 placing the larvaB in a solution of curara. By the electrization the 

 animals are fixed in half a minute and the fixation is rendered per- 

 manent in the curara solution, the electric palsy being at once 

 succeeded by the curara palsy. By this means the larvte can be 

 brought in a few minutes to a condition suitable for microscopical 



* MT. Naturforsch. Gesell. Bern, 1885, pp. 3-25 (1 pi.), 

 t Arch. f. Mikr. Anat., xxiii. (1884) pp. 380-1 (1 fig.). 



% SB. K. Akad. Wiss. Wien, xci. (1885) pp. 204-38 (3 pis.). Cf. Zeitschr. f. 

 Wiss. Mikr., ii. (1885) pp. 390-1. 



