Abstract
The year 1898 marked the recognition of two fundamental cytoplasmic structures,—mitochondria and the Golgi apparatus. The mitochondria soon became of interest to every biologist through Meves'theories concerning their importance in cellular differentiation and inheritance, but we are still very much in the dark regarding many features of their behavior. The Golgi apparatus, on the other hand, was almost forgotten and until recently even its status as an independent cytoplasmic element was in doubt. The last few years have witnessed in Europe a revival of interest in these and other cytoplasmic inclusions, an interest not yet fully reflected in this country. It would seem, then, an opportune time for calling the attention of biologists to these structures, so little reckoned within our physiological concept of the cell.
I have been experimenting with a variety of methods while studying the: formation of the insect sperm, more particularly of Hemiptera belonging to the Family Cimicidz (Pentatomidæ). Two new methods were found which have yielded interesting results.
The first is a modification of the Kopsch method for Golgi bodies, which depends on the reduction of osmic acid by the Golgi apparatus more quickly than by other cell constituents. This modification is more rapid than Kopsch and often gives good fixation of the cell as a whole. The procedure is as follows:
Fix in glass-stoppered bottles for 20 to 30 hours in Mann's sublimate-osmic :-
Wash in water over night, dehydrate and embed. Cut sections four micra thick. Mount directly or counterstain as desired; I find light green very useful. Golgi elements are intense black, mitochondria unstained or light brown. This method, in common with all Golgi technique, is more or less uncertain, due not so much to imperfect impregnation as to variability in general fixation.
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