[Histonet] cresyl violet staining on unfixed frozen brain sections

[Bryan Llewellyn]

When I did this method (admittedly on paraffin sections) years ago, I used 
only a few drops of acetic acid in a staining dish (200-300 mL) of 95% 
ethanol.  However, integral to the method was dehydrating and clearing with 
xylene before differentiation.  The method I used specified to stain, rinse 
with water, dehydrate in ethanols and clear with xylene, then leave 
overnight in xylene before differentiating.  This took too long, so I used 
to leave the slides about 30 minutes.  I found that it did help to remove 
dye from the background faster than from the cells and improved contrast. 
Since the sections have already been dehydrated, the post-differentiation 
dehydration can be gentler.

Bryan Llewellyn