394 STAINING MICROSCOPIC OBJECTS [Ch. XI 



§ 639. Staining with hematoxylin. — Take a slide of sections pre- 

 pared by the paraffin or the collodion method from the jar of alcohol 

 and plunge it into a vessel of water to remove the alcohol. For stain- 

 ing put the shde of sections into a jar or shell vial of the hematoxylin 

 solution or one can lay the shde flat on the staining rack or some other 

 support and add the stain to the sections (fig. 235-236). It usually 

 takes from 2 to 10 minutes to stain sufficiently with hematoxylin. 



A good plan when 

 one is learning the 

 .w^^.«.^^xx^^-v\ process is to wash oS 



the stam after one 



^i^^^^^ V — X minute, either with 



" >^Sia ^ — ' ^f~3 l fll^^^^^ 3, pipette or by put- 



tmg the shde m a 

 dish of water. Wipe 

 ^(i off the bottom of the 



•■"•'"'ai^^^^^i^E^^HW^BFJHB!^*"* slide and put it un- 



der the microscope. 

 '"'•^"'"— - ^ Light well, use a low 

 ^^.Ei-=^^aA**ss«. power, and one can 



vfy i see the nuclei stained 



, ,,,,™,,,,mu»iiiiraiii,im»imraiiiiiimmimtm™immiii,iiiiii,iiiiiiiri,H,^/.i ■ ^ blulsh Or pUTple 



'''■''*|;;.i i ' I ' color, as hematoxy- 



' ' hn is a nuclear dye. 



Fig. 23s. Bowl with Draining Rack and Funnel jf .-. 1 • r -^ 



FOR Staining Sections. " ^'^^ *^°^*^'^ ^^ ^^^^^' 



continue the stain- 

 ing until the nuclei stand out boldly. Sometimes it takes a long 

 time to stain well with hematoxyhn. In such a case the jar of stain 

 may be put into the paraffin oven and the heat will accelerate the 

 staining. One may also heat the individual slides as for spreading 

 sections, but one must be careful not to let the stain dry on the 

 sections. As the stain evaporates add fresh stain with a pipette. 



When the sections are well stained with hematoxyhn, wash off 

 the hematoxylin with water. If the slide is allowed to stand some 

 time in ordinary water the color is hkely to be brighter. This is 

 due to the action of the alkah (ammonia, etc.) usually present in natu- 



