Gentlemen:

	After reading through your e-mail threads, I hurried back to my 
	ancient storage closet where I keep solid reagents now, since
ready made 
	solutions became available.  Lo and behold, what do I find but a
dusty jar 
	of Alcian Blue 8GX!  

	Jim, please let me know when the price reaches that of gold!


Diana Goodwin,  HT
Trenton,  NJ


> ----------
> From: 	Mark Ray[SMTP:darkdaym@earthlink.net]
> Sent: 	Friday, July 07, 2000 2:47 PM
> To: 	jim; J. A. Kiernan
> Cc: 	Histonet
> Subject: 	RE: Alcian Blue for ... [urban myths]
> 
> John,
> 
> I was not quite correct in saying that Aldrich had sold out their last
> batch of Alcian Blue 8GX.  At the present moment they have 1x5g and
> 1x25g
> cat no 236551 in stock.  When we  attempted to purchase a
> manufacturing
> quantity this spring, they told us that it was unavailable.  I guess
> they
> still had some small packages, but it looks bleak for the present.
> Hopefully the pyridine derivative will become generally available.
> 
> Mark Ray
> EK Industries  
> 
> 
> > [Original Message]
> > From: J. A. Kiernan <jkiernan@julian.uwo.ca>
> > To: jim <jim@proscitech.com.au>
> > Cc: Histonet <Histonet@pathology.swmed.edu>
> > Date: 7/7/00 1:30:20 AM
> > Subject: RE: Alcian Blue for ... [urban myths]
> >
> > On Thu, 6 Jul 2000, Jim Darley wrote:
> > 
> > > Here is the note from our wholesaler/ manufacturer:
> > > 
> > > "Thank you for your E Mail concerning Alcian Blue 8GX. As per
> previous
> > > correspondence the problem is with us and will not disappear.
> > > The last 3 years we found some old ICI material (low dye content
> 10-20%), which 
> > > we upgraded. That has come to an end; no company in the world to
> our
> knowledge 
> > > is producing the material, textile quality or stains quality. ..."
> > 
> > > ... a 1996 CD ROM will not reveal anything that has happened
> during 
> > > the past three years.
> > 
> >   That's true; I don't have the 1999 version of the C.I. CD-ROM.
> >   However, on May 11th 1999 the Biol Stain Commission certified a 
> >   batch of alcian blue 8GX for the Aldrich Chemical Company. See
> >   Biotech. & Histochem. 74 (5) p. 274 (Sept 1999). So there must
> >   have been some new stuff around last year.
> > 
> >   Alcian blue 8GX (dye content approx 50%) is in the Sigma
> >   and Aldrich catalogues for 2000-2001; same price as
> >   haematoxylin. (Curiously, both dyes are about $10 cheaper for
> >   25 grams if you buy from Sigma rather than Aldrich. Strange,
> >   when they're the same company! In the Fluka catalogue for
> >   1999-2000 - also the same firm, I think - the prices of both
> >   dyes are some $20 higher than Aldrich's.) Aldrich also supply
> >   a "pyridine variant" of alcian blue, which is more expensive,
> >   and in the past they sold another variant called "alcec blue,"
> >   which could also be used for the same staining methods (see 
> >   F. Green 1991: The Sigma-Aldrich Handbook of Stains, Dyes and
> >   Indicators, p. 69-72).  
> > 
> >   A low dye content such as the 10-20% in your old ICI material
> >   is not necessarily a bad thing for alcian blue, and batches
> >   with high dye content (70% +) often perform badly. It seems
> >   likely that the additives (dextrin, boric acid etc) are
> >   needed in adequate amount.
> > 
> >  John A. Kiernan,
> >  Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology,
> >  The University of Western Ontario,
> >  LONDON,  Canada  N6A 5C1
> > 
> > 
> > 
> 
> 
> 
> --- Mark Ray
> --- darkdaym@earthlink.net
> --- EarthLink: It's your Internet.
> 
> 
>