282 Modern Microscopy 



anxious — to add almost any substance to their stains with- 

 out rhyme or reason, veritably shooting in the dark in the 

 vain hope of bringing off something good. This is more 

 especially the case in many of the innumerable carmine 

 and hsematoxylin mixtures that have from time to time 

 been circulated. 



For general nuclear and cytological work a simple 

 hsematoxylin, counterstained with Bismark brown, will be 

 as useful and easy to work with as a beginner might wish. 

 We would not be understood to extol these two stains above 

 every other stain ; there are undoubtedly better, but for 

 the beginner they are the most easily worked stains, either 

 singly or in conjunction, that we know of for cytological 

 work in general. We append formula : 



P. Mayer's H^ematoxylin Solution (Stock Solution). 



A. Dissolve with gentle heat. 



Hsematein, or hsematein-ammonia 0"25 gramme. 

 Distilled water ... ... ... 1 c.c. 



Absolute alcohol ... ... 12 c.c. 



B. Dissolve with gentle heat. 



Alum ... ... ... ... 12"5 grammes. 



Distilled water ... ... ... 250 c.c. 



Add A to B, filter, and add a scrap of thymol, which will 

 keep it good for several months. 



BiSJViAEK Beown Solution : 



Bismark brown ... ... ... 1 gramme. 



Absolute alcohol ... ... 40 c.c. 



Distilled water ... ... ... 160 c.c. 



The order of this staining process is as follows : From the 

 xylol-bath pass your sections through the various grades of 

 alcohol — a few minutes in each — into distilled water. If 

 placed from alcohol into the hsematoxylin solution a deposit 

 will be formed upon the surface of the sections which 



