Economy and Simplification in the Staining of Blood Slides

The stains commonly used for staining blood films (Giemsa's, Wright's, Leishman's, etc.) have become expensive, and in many cases difficult to obtain. In order to get the best results with these stains, acetone-free alcohol and distilled water of a specified pH are necessary. This again increases costs and complicates technique. Furthermore, films, and particularly thick-drop slides, are usually stained by flooding, which means that the stain is discarded after having been used for a single slide only. It is the object of this paper to show how a stain devised by Boye (1940)?during the present campaign in North Africa?for the staining of thick drops can be used in such a way as to make it suitable for routine laboratory bloodfilm staining in all cases in which the Romanowsky stains are generally used. The advantages of the methods we are about to describe are that :?