Volume 1
A textbook of pathology : systematic & practical.
- Hamilton, David James.
- Date:
- 1889-94
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A textbook of pathology : systematic & practical. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.
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![PART I (5) Eaise the tissue ])) turning the milled head (G), and cut by sliding the knife along the glass plates. (6) After use be careful to wipe the whole instrument clean. (7) Should the ether point become choked, clear by means of the fine wire which is sent with the instrument. (8) The instrument is intended for use with methylated sulphuric ether. Other Microtomes.—Of late years the number of these has become so great that the young pathologist is in danger of getting bewildered by them, and will have some difficulty in knowing whether such com- plicated and ponderous machines as those of Thoma-Jung, Schanze, and Weigert are really necessary for efficient working. He may rest satisfied, however, that if he is provided with a simple freezing micro- tome such as one of those just described, for ice and ether, he will be amply equipped. If he buys one of these more elaborate instruments, he will probably resign it in course of time for something much more simple. The great secret of success, as previously remarked, is in the preparation of the tissue for freezing. How to Cut a Number of Sections in Continuous Series. —Where the object is small and can be embedded in paraffin without injury, probably the best instrument to employ for the above purpose is the “Rocking Microtome.”^ Ribbons of sections can be made with it, each adhering to its neighbour, so that if the series be laid on a long glass slide, they can be mounted in balsam after dissolving off the paraffin with turpentine or oil of cloves, without any further trouble. This certainly is a most convenient method for cutting embryos or such a body as a small spinal cord. It is not well suited for larger pieces of tissue. The Company who make it have improved upon previous instruments of the same kind, by causing the ribbon of sections to fall on to a sheet of paper or a glass slide instead of being carried away with a silk ribbon as previously. With the ordinoA’y freezing microtome a continuous series of sections may be cut in the following way :—Let us suppose that the tissue to be cut is a piece of a medulla oblongata or spinal cord. Mark a narrow line on the right side of the piece of cord or medulla with gentian violet, and let it remain on for an hour or so in order that it may take a firm hold upon the tissue. Wash in the particular freez- ing fluid which was employed for soaking. The mark which is left will serve to indicate the right side, however the section may be lying. A shallow four-sided trough ought now to be procured, earthenware is best, divided into a number of narrow spaces from side to side by means of thin partitions. If not specially ordered, tiiis can be easily made if a four-sided photographer’s porcelain trough is filled about one-eighth full of melted paraffin, and strips of glass placed in this be employed as the partitions. The strips of glass become fixed in i Price complete £5 : 5s. Made by the Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company, St. Tibb’s Row, Cambridge.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b24990607_0001_0096.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
