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A note on the shute technique for staining malaria parasites with Leishman's stain and on the stippling in infected red blood corpuscles which it reveals
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[ADDENDUM] A N O T E ON T H E S H U T E T E C H N I Q U E F O R S T A I N I N G M A L A R I A P A R A S I T E S W I T H L E I S H M A N ' S S T A I N A N D ON T H E S T I P P L I N G IN I N F E C T E D RED B L O O D C O R P U S C L E S WHICH
IT
REVEALS.
S. P. JAMES,M.D., D.P.H., I.M.S. (Retd.)
Adviser on Tropical Diseases to the Ministry of Health.
Instead of testing the methyl alcohol separately as described in these TRANSACTIONS,Vol. XXIII, No. 3, page 269, we nowproceed as follows : (1) Test the distilled water as described on page 271 and bring it exactly to the degree of alkalinity represented by the standard tube p H 7.2. (2) With this water dilute a measured quantity of the methyl alcohol three times and test the mixture. If the colour, after adding 0.5 c.cm. of phenol red to 5 c.cm. of the mixture, matches the standard tube 7.0, the methyl alcohol is the most suitable that can be obtained. (3) If the cotour shows that the mixture is slightly on the acid side of neutrality, deal with the distilled water again by bringing it exactly to the degree of alkalinity represented by the standard tube 7.4 and test a mixture of this water and methyl alcohol as before. If the resulting colour now matches the tube 7"0 (or even if the colour is between those of the tubes 7"0 and 7.2) ~h~ alcohol may be regarded as suitable when used with a 7.4 water, though the results will not be quite so good as with an alcohol which, with a 7.2 water, yields an exactly neutral mixture. Any brand of methyl alcohol not complying with one or other of these tests should be discarded.
[ADDENDUM] A N O T E ON T H E S H U T E T E C H N I Q U E F O R S T A I N I N G M A L A R I A P A R A S I T E S W I T H L E I S H M A N ' S S T A I N A N D ON T H E S T I P P L I N G IN I N F E C T E D RED B L O O D C O R P U S C L E S WHICH
IT
REVEALS.
S. P. JAMES,M.D., D.P.H., I.M.S. (Retd.)
Adviser on Tropical Diseases to the Ministry of Health.
Instead of testing the methyl alcohol separately as described in these TRANSACTIONS,Vol. XXIII, No. 3, page 269, we nowproceed as follows : (1) Test the distilled water as described on page 271 and bring it exactly to the degree of alkalinity represented by the standard tube p H 7.2. (2) With this water dilute a measured quantity of the methyl alcohol three times and test the mixture. If the colour, after adding 0.5 c.cm. of phenol red to 5 c.cm. of the mixture, matches the standard tube 7.0, the methyl alcohol is the most suitable that can be obtained. (3) If the cotour shows that the mixture is slightly on the acid side of neutrality, deal with the distilled water again by bringing it exactly to the degree of alkalinity represented by the standard tube 7.4 and test a mixture of this water and methyl alcohol as before. If the resulting colour now matches the tube 7"0 (or even if the colour is between those of the tubes 7"0 and 7.2) ~h~ alcohol may be regarded as suitable when used with a 7.4 water, though the results will not be quite so good as with an alcohol which, with a 7.2 water, yields an exactly neutral mixture. Any brand of methyl alcohol not complying with one or other of these tests should be discarded.