564 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
Safranin Nuclear Reaction and its Relation to Carcinoma 
Coccidia.* * * § — Prof. A. P. Ohlmacher, while disclaiming any intention of 
disputing the existence of Sporozoa in cancer, or of throwing discredit 
on safranin as a stain, shows that many of the appearances depicted by 
some observers, e. g. Podwyssozki, Sawtschenko, are artificial crystalline 
products, the result of a safranin and iodine reaction. The author’s 
results as summarized by himself are as follows : — A precipitation of 
deep red material may be produced when solutions of safranin and 
iodine or safranin and picric acid are mixed, directly. A similar 
precipitation is produced in tissues and sections when safranin and 
iodine or safranin and picric acid are used for staining. The precipitate 
occurs in any of the elements, either of normal or pathological tissue, 
and may occur either in the nucleus or in the cytoplasm. This artificial 
product occurs in the cells of sections of carcinoma tissue, prepared as 
directed by Podwyssozki and Sawtschenko. Therefore, the multiform 
red particles occurring in the cells of carcinoma tissue prepared by 
the safranin picric acid method are artificial products ; and since 
Podwyssozki and Sawtschenko base their arguments on the presence of 
these red formations in their “ coccidia,” such conclusions must be 
valueless. 
Nerve-endings in Muscle. t — Prof. L. v. Thanhoffer recommends a 
modification of previous methods. Let the sartorius of frog or lizard be 
stretched on cork with porcupine spines, split longitudinally, and sub- 
jected to a modification of Lo wit’s gold method. The preparation is 
placed, till it swells, in a mixture of 1 part formic acid and 2 parts 
water ; it is then transferred to the gold bath, but this is arranged in 
such a way that osmic acid (in an adjacent vessel) acts along with the 
gold. After being washed in water, it is left for 24 hours in the 
original mixture in a dry place. Then it is washed and laid in 
glycerin. A new treatment recommended is as follows : — The muscle 
is placed for 10 minutes in 1 per cent, hyperosmic acid, washed, 
left for 20-30 minutes (in a dark place) in Hollenstein solution, washed, 
and exposed to sunlight for 10-30 minutes in water with some acetic 
acid. The author hints at some of the good results he has reached by 
means of both methods. 
Restoration of Osmic Acid Solutions.:);— Mr. C. L. Bristol recom- 
mends the addition of 10 to 20 drops of fresh peroxide of hydrogen to 
100 ccm. of a 10 per cent, solution of osmium tetroxide, when the latter 
has been reduced and turned black. The chemical reaction shows there 
are no injurious changes, for we have Os0 4 4- organic substances converted 
into Os0 2 + oxidized organic substance ; and Os0 2 +2 H 2 0 2 converted 
into Os0 4 + 2 H 2 0. Peroxide of hydrogen may also be used to bleach 
tissue which has been overblackened by osmic acid. 
Trustworthy Solution of Hgematoxylin.§ — Prof. S. H. Gage de- 
scribes an aqueous solution of haematoxylin which does not readily 
deteriorate. As he suspected that the dark precipitate which so soon 
* Journ. Amer. Med. Assoc., xx. (1893) pp. 111-7 (1 pi., colrd.). 
+ Math. Nat. Ber. Ungarn, viii. (1891) pp. 433-40. 
X Amer. Natural., xxvii. (1893) pp. 175 and 6. 
§ Proc. Amer. Micr. Soc., xiv. (1893) pp. 125-7. 
