I find this very interesting to use eosin in the processing tank.  Long,
long ago, when I was a young histotech, our pathologists would put a drop
of 1% methylene blue on the small, colorless bxs before wrapping them in
the end papers used in hair permanents.   This worked very well and if
you're concerned about autofluorescence, you might try this with some dye
that won't interfere with what you're going to do with that tissue. 

Connie McManus


At 06:54 PM 06/21/2000 -0400, Amos Brooks wrote:
>Hi,
>    Eosin works nicely to visualize the tissue, especially in small core
>biopsies. It beats Mercurochrome because you dont have the nasty mercury
>hazards to deal with.
>    I dont think it is necessary to bother with exact measurement of dye
>to alcohol (don't over do it of course) since the dye will wash out in
>the re-hydration of the sections following deparaffinization.
>Amos Brooks
>
>d-johnson@mail.holyname.org wrote:
>
>> Hello all:
>> Has anyone tried a small amount of eosin (i.e. approx. 1cc in the first
>> alcohol bath of the tissue processor) to mark tissues so they are easily
>> seen in the block?  What is the "down side" of this practice? How does is
>> differ from using Mercurochrome?
>>
>> Thank you very much.
>>
>> Deborah L. Johnson, MT(ASCP)SH, CLDir
>> Administrative Director, Laboratories
>> Holy Name Hospital
>> Teaneck, NJ
>
>
>
Connie McManus
Veterinary Diagnostics Lab
Utah State University
Logan, UT
USA