This article is only available in the PDF format. Download the PDF to view the article, as well as its associated figures and tables.
The silver stains for smears, so frequently applied in the examination of treponemes and leptospiras, and now practically limited to the method of Fontana-Tribondeau and Holland's modification, present a serious disadvantage on account of their inevitable discoloration, more or less rapid, through the action of physical agents (long exposure to the light) or chemical agents (action of the cedar oil used in the immersion).
In view of the beauty of these methods, their importance in microbioscopic preparations for teaching purposes and their unsurpassed advantages in photomicrography, I shall describe the simple technic with which we have succeeded in stabilizing these dyes.
The method consists simply in submitting the stain to the action of a fixing and toning bath. The solution may be placed on the surface of the slide or the latter, already treated by the method of Fontana-Tribondeau, may be tipped into Borrel bottle filled with the solution. As