SOI 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
be placed in a large quantity of water in order to dissolve out excess of 
chromic acid. They are next placed in weak, and afterwards in strong 
spirit for 24 hours, and then for 24 hours in Ehrlich’s solution, 
and decolorized in alcohol to which a small quantity of hydrochloric 
acid has been added. By this procedure the bacilli are not shrunken 
owing to deprivation of water, as in hardening in alcohol, they stain 
deeply, and can be well seen without the aid of an immersion lens or a 
condenser : a Hartnack obj. 7 and oc. 3 will suffice. This method is 
not applicable to freshly frozen tissue unless it has been previously 
treated with Muller's fluid, and for ascertaining the relations of the 
bacilli to the elements of the tissues, the Ziehl-Neelsen or the Fraenkel- 
Gabbett methods are better suited. 
Demonstrating Polar Bodies in Cholera Bacilli.* — Dr. A. Eahmer 
finds that when cholera bacilli are stained with an aqueous anilin-water 
solution of methyl en-blue, polar bodies are visible at both ends. The 
solution must be freshly prepared, and when placed on the cover- 
glass heated until it just begins to vaporize. The author afterwards 
discovered that polar bodies might be seen when cover-glass preparations 
were stained with phenol-fuchsin. 
New Infection Needle. t — Mr. J. C. Bay proposes a new infection 
needle for the study of lower plants. A pointed wire, about 6 in. long, 
bent round at one end to form a handle, and sharpened at the other, is 
thrust through a metal disc, an inch in diameter. The disc acts as a 
screen to prevent contamination from falling dust and germs when 
transferring infection to or from liquid cultures of micro-organisms. 
C 5) Mounting:, including- Slides, Preservative Fluids, &c- 
Lysol in Histological Technique.! — Dr. F. Beinke has made some 
experiments with lysol, which is a solution of cresol in neutral soap, 
for the purpose of testing its value in histological technique. In strong 
solution it first shrivels up living tissues, but afterwards causes them to 
swell. Weak solutions have a swelling and macerating action, while in 
10 per cent, solutions the effect of the antiseptic is conservative for a 
few hours, but afterwards its specific action is manifested. In general 
this specific action may be described as clarifying, isolating, and macerat- 
ing, but this is always attended with swelling, and hence on the whole 
the action is somewhat analogous to that of alkalies. No brilliant results 
were obtained from its use, though the condition of things were presented 
in a different light. 
The author used the lysol most frequently as 10 per cent, solution 
in distilled water, but for some things found the following formula 
useful : — Lysol 10, aq. dest. 60, alcohol abs. 30. If a stronger clearing- 
up were desired he used Lysol 10, aq. dest. 50, glycerin 10, alcohol 30. 
For many objects the solution required to be warmed to blood heat. 
* CentralbL f. Bakteriol. u. Parasitehk., xii. (1893) pp. 786-90. 
t Bot. Gazette, xviii. (1893) p. 335. j Anat Anztig., viii. (1893) pp. 532-8. 
