590 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
of the knife on the strips of glass, r a small metal flange projects upwards 
for the knife to rest against. The glass slips may he easily turned or 
replaced when worn. The micrometer screw gives a movement of 
10 [x. The object-holder is strengthened, and a larger ether flask is 
provided. 
Weigert’s Microtome.* — Herr C. Erbe gives detailed instructions 
on the method of using Weigert’s sliding microtome. An improvement 
of this instrument is introduced by making the slides double. 
Fig. 53. 
Microtome with Metzner’s Double Support Guidance. — Herr C. 
Erbe, of Tubingen, has produced a microtome (fig. 53) with a double 
support, for which he claims increased firmness both for the object and 
for the knife. 
(4) Staining- and! Injecting-. 
Notes on Fixation, Alcohol Method, Stains/ &c.f — Herr G. Eisen 
highly commends the following mixture for fixing: — Platinum chloride 
0*5 percent., 50 parts; iridium chloride O’ 5 percent., 50 parts; glacial 
acetic acid 1 part ; but has found that the iridium chloride alone is supe- 
rior. The solutions are iridium chloride 0’5 per cent., 100 t ; glacial 
acetic acid, 1; and iridium chloride 0*2 per cent., 100; glacial acetic 
acid, 1. Small objects should he kept immersed for six hours or so. 
A prolonged stay in the fixative is stated to be harmless. After 
removal from the fixative, the objects are placed for a few hours in dis- 
tilled water. 
According to the author the alcohol method for fixing sections to the 
slide is successful enough if performed in the following way. The 
slide is flooded with 80 per cent, alcohol. The paraffin sections are 
placed thereon, and removed to the shelf top or side bench of the bath, 
the water in which is kept at 55°. The sections at once stretch out, 
and then the slide must be removed to the work-table, when the alcohol 
is poured off, and the sections [arranged. Two strips of thick blotting 
paper, the same size as the slide, are placed on the sections, the strip 
next the sections being moistened with 80 per cent, alcohol, the upper 
one kept dry. A roller, used with considerable force, is then passed 
[ * Zeitschr. f. angew. Mikr., iii. (1897) pp. 1G9-73 (l*fig.). 
t Zeitschr. f. wiss. Mikr., xiv. (1897) pp. 195-202. 
