Page:The Journal of Tropical Medicine, volume 6.djvu/228

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THE JOURNAL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE. [June 15, 1903.

ing. In this country she can acquire experience of the kind at one of the hospitals of the Sea- men’s Hospital Society in London, and perhaps at one or two other centres, so that there is no lack of opportunity; should the nurse have had experience in a hospital in the Tropics so much the better. trained nurse will be required of all shipping

But we are convinced that a properly

companies carrying passengers in the near future.

The argument that the nurse’s wage is a serious element to be considered cannot be al- lowed for a moment. At most it may amount to £40 a year, but even if it cost a much larger sum, her presence on board ship is a necessity to the travelling public, and the shipping com- panies will have to see to it that this public want is supplied ; and they may rest assured that the company that provides a nurse on their ships will become a favourite line to travel by. Owners of ships and captains of ships will reply that they do not want invalids on their vessels, and were a nurse introduced the ships carrying them would be inundated with invalids. This is a form of Few reforms have been obtained for seamen except by Act of Par-

liament ;

argument that is played out.

and even if ship-owners and boards of management are so shortsighted as to require legal compulsion in this matter we would warn them that even this may be imposed upon them. We understand that a movement in the direction of insisting upon trained nurses being carried on passenger ships is being instituted ; and whilst cordially supporting that movement, we hope that the shipping companies likely to be affected will see it to be their duty to the public and the em- pire by doing all they can to smooth the pillows of those of our fellow-countrymen and country- women, who carry on the work of the empire in regions where disease is rife, and where it is well nigh impossible to live without contracting ailments which necessitate extreme care whilst the sufferers are being conveyed to their native shores. The public purse grants subsidies to not a few of our great shipping companies, and the public welfare demands that the lives of human beings be considered of more importance than the delivery of mails or the storage of merchan- dise.

ee ee

Cranslation. THE TECHNIQUE OF STAINING MALARIAL PARASITES.

By Dr. Josmr Koreck (Hungary). Translated from the German by P. Falcke.

Tar Romanowsky-Ziemann method of staining ma- laria parasites is undoubtedly the best. Yet Nocht, who first wrote on the subject (Centralbl. fiir Bakt, Parasitenk und Infektionskrankheiten, vol. xxiv., No. 22), complains of “the valuable, but too detailed and un- certain method,” and he recommends a modification which precipitates no sediment. Recently Ruge (‘‘ In- troduction to the Study of Malarial Diseases,’ Jena, Fischer, 1901) has again suggested a new modifica- tion of this method. I need not, however, describe it, as the method I have discovered is preferable from its simplicity. The circumstance that Ruge’s solution requires heating and again cooling down every time before use has prevented me trying it.

For some years I have used for fixing, a watery solution containing | per cent. of chromic and | per — cent. ac. acet. glac., into which the preparations are dipped for five seconds and afterwards well rinsed in — water and alcohol. The ether-alcohol fixation is also good, but I was never satisfied with the alcohol fixation.

I believe that the principal fault of the original Ziemann stain is that his solution of methylene blue is too concentrated. I had but poor results when using a 1 per cent. solution of methylene blue (Med. Hochst).

If 1 ccm. of a 1 per cent. methylene blue solution is poured into a vessel and a 1 per cent. solution of eosin (A—-G) be added—two drops (7.e., 0°1 cem.) at a time, 7 the mixture well stirred after each addition, and one drop placed on a slide, these drops or streaks will form a varying scale of colour; on examination under the microscope it will be found that after the addition of a certain quantity of eosin the colour is no longer blue but violet, and the next is red. To attain this viole colour—the neutralisation—it is necessary to employ 0'8—0'9 ccm. of a 1 per cent. solution of eosin (A—G) to 1 per cent. methylene blue solution. As to the neutrali- sation of ready-prepared mixtures, these certainly stain most quickly, but they also form quite a host of coloured crystals, so that the beauty of the colour of the prepara- tion can only be seen in places. If 0'1—0°2 or 0°3 cem. or less eosin are used to each 1 cem. of methylene blue, there is less deposit, but the time taken to stain the preparations is correspondingly increased.

On May Ist Leonor Michaelis presented a report” | respecting a methylene blue eosin stain of blood prepara- tions to the Society for International Medicine in Berlin, The mixture contains alcohol and acetones, and is sup-