44 



Corked collecting tubes will be found most 

 convenient and will hold ample material. The 

 large masses of tissues sometimes sent home are 

 of far less value to the pathologist than much 

 smaller pieces well fixed and hardened. Always 

 put a label in the fluid, with the data written on 

 it in pencil, as well as the outside label. 



Fixing 



I. Alcohol is on the whole the most useful 

 fixing fluid. Small pieces of tissue should be put 

 directly into absolute alcohol. Larger pieces 

 should be placed in ninety-five per cent, alcohol 

 for two or three days, and then for twenty-four 

 hours in absolute alcohol. Intestine should be 

 spread on filter paper, as also nerves, or other 

 tissue, which it is desired to keep flat. When 

 removing the tissue from the paper, care should 

 be taken that no fibres of the paper adhere, as 

 they may prevent the proper cutting of sections. 



For other modes of fixing vide appendix. 



To Store Tissues 



Keep tissues in diluted alcohol (seventy-five 

 per cent, about). If kept long in absolute alcohol, 

 many tissues become very hard. 



To Embed Tissues for Section Cutting 



Except for very special reasons, embedding 

 in paraffin should always be the method employed. 

 Very general misconceptions exist as to the time 



