544 
BEES AND BEE-KEEPING. 
material from being displaced by after-washing. The 
processes of staining are extremely varied, but the 
most simple, which is also one of the best, is here 
all-sufficient. A watery solution of the aniline dye 
called methyl-violet is placed in (preferably filtered 
into) a little saucer, when the cover, film downwards, 
is set swimming upon its surface. After from two to 
twenty minutes it is lifted, and thoroughly washed 
in water, to which, if the staining is too strong, a 
little alcohol or acetic acid may be added. Failing 
methyl-violet, red ink — i.e., eosin and water — may 
be similarly used. The stains adhere more tena- 
ciously to the micro-organisms than other matters 
present, and so the former are seen far more clearly 
than in their native, colourless condition. The pre- 
paration is now ready for examination, either wet or 
fixed down by Canada balsam, in the usual way. 
Proceeding in the manner described, the juices of 
a healthy larva present, as already hinted, the appear- 
ance of B, Plate I. Fat-globules are numerous, whilst 
here and there we note the large, white, blood 
discs, and scattered throughout may be seen minute, 
globular particles (smaller than the bacilli spores), 
continually agitated with a Brownian movement. In 
the coffee-coloured matter, on the contrary, we find 
neither fat-globules, blood-cells, nor molecular base, 
but observe, amidst the remains of broken-down 
tracheae, the field crowded with small, ovoid bodies — 
spores (the micrococci of Schonfeld), as at E, Plate I. ; 
but if we have successfully applied our stain, we shall 
possibly discover a few undoubted bacilli, some of 
which are visibly passing into the spore condition. 
