A METHOD FOR LABELING SLIDES USED IN ROUTINE 
STOOL EXAMINATIONS 
By Frank G. Haughwout 
Of the Department of Parasitology, University of the Philippines 
ONE TEXT FIGURE 
When large numbers of stools are examined, either in the 
course of routine clinical laboratory work or in research, the 
problem of numbering the slides used sometimes presents dif- 
ficulties that may lead to confusion in recording the results. 
Various workers are accustomed to identify their slides by at- 
taching to one end an ordinary gummed label, by etching the 
number or symbol on the glass with hydroflouric acid, by scratch- 
ing it in with a diamond pencil, or by writing on it with a wax 
pencil. All these methods are troublesome in one way or an- 
other. Pasted labels are apt to absorb moisture and come off 
in the solutions, or they may become so discolored from the 
staining solutions that the figures become undecipherable; hy- 
droflouric acid and the diamond pencil make a permanent record 
on the slide which may lead to confusion in another or the same 
series; figures written with a wax pencil are not always legible, 
they frequently come off in the solutions and, in a tropical labor- 
atory where the temperature is constantly high, the lightest 
touch with the fingers transforms the record into a smudge. 
No originality is claimed for the method which is here de- 
scribed. It is so simple and practical that it is difficult to 
believe that no other worker has thought of and applied it. Its 
essential feature is the ordinary wire paper clip (fig. 1, a) used 
to hold sheets of paper together, and which may be purchased 
of almost any stationer. The record is made on paper labels 
measuring 2.5 by 2.5 centimeters. 
One end of the paper clip is slightly bent as shown in fig. 1, 
b, so that it will slip easily over the edge of the slide and yet 
hold the paper label firmly. A stock of clips with bent ends 
may be kept on the work table. 
In operation the number or symbol is written with a lead 
pencil near the lower margin of the label which is then folded 
at the middle, hung over the end of the slide, and secured with 
the paper clip as shown in fig. 1, c. By this procedure about 1 
centimeter of the label is exposed and the characters may be 
535 
