Silver & ammonia (Was Re: [Histonet] Silly Question? , , ,)

Sun Dec 14 23:37:28 CST 2008

Dear Susan,

Thank you for bringing Walle Nauta's 1993 review article to Histonetters' attention. I hadn't seen it before, and I agree that it was well worth downloading, reading and filing for future reference. 

More than 50 years ago Nauta & Gygax published a very easily understood account of ammoniacal silver solutions and the effects of changing their pH. This is fundamental to all techniques involving silver nitrate and ammonia, and the exact information is not in chemistry textbooks. Here's the reference.

Nauta WJH, Gygax PA (1951) Silver impregnation of degenerating axon terminals in the central nervous system: (1) Technic. (2) Chemical notes. Stain Technology 26: 5-11. 

Part 2 was an appendix to their paper on the early (non-suppressive) Nauta-Gygax method, which stains both normal and degenerating axons. Many of the principles explained in Part 2 of this paper apply also to other silver methods. 

If your library subscribes to journals published by Informa, you can download this Nauta-Gygax paper (and anything else in Stain Technology) as a PDF file from the InformaWorld web site: 
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713692932~bb=all

The journal's name shows on the present publisher's web site in its present form (Biotechnic & Histochemistry) even though the name was really Stain Technology before about 1990. 

This is a problem with quite a few journals that have changed their names. The Springer web site, for example, doesn't seem to recognize the name changes of Histochemie --> Histochemistry --> Histochemistry and Cell Biology. Library catalogues usually record name changes faithfully.  For journals, changing the name probably isn't always a good move!

John Kiernan
Anatomy, UWO
London, Canada
= = =
----- Original Message -----
From: Susan Bachus <susanbachus <@t> verizon.net>
Date: Friday, December 12, 2008 20:33
Subject: Re: [Histonet] Silly Question? - Need help quickly!
To: rjbuesa <@t> yahoo.com, Pat Flannery <pjfnefro <@t> duke.edu>, histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu, "Weems, Joyce" <JWeems <@t> sjha.org>

> I tried earlier to send, for this thread, a wonderful paper by 
> Nauta, 
> chronicaling the history his discovery of his tract tracing 
> method, in which 
> serendipity and degradation of formalin played critical roles, 
> not realizing 
> that the size of the attachment would prevent it from going 
> through, so I am 
> trying again with a URL for this paper:
> http://www.jneurosci.org/cgi/reprint/13/4/1337
> 
> Susan
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Rene J Buesa" <rjbuesa <@t> yahoo.com>
> To: "Pat Flannery" <pjfnefro <@t> duke.edu>; 
> <histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu>; 
> "Weems, Joyce" <JWeems <@t> sjha.org>
> Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2008 12:58 PM
> Subject: RE: [Histonet] Silly Question? - Need help quickly!
> 
> 
> Joyce:
> Methanal, which is the chemical name of formaldehyde, 
> polymerizes. If it 
> forms a polymer of at least 50 molecules or more, it gets solid 
> = 
> para-formaldehyde.
> Formalin (a trade name as formol is also another trade name)is 
> the 37-50% 
> aqueous solution of formaldehyde (with some additiveses to 
> prevent 
> polymerization).
> You can prepare BNF using the formalin solution or dissolving 
> the amount of 
> solid para-formaldehydede to get to the concentrationon you desire.
> The chemical in both solutions is the same = methanal or 
> formaldehyde.René 
> J.
> 
> --- On Thu, 12/11/08, Weems, Joyce <JWeems <@t> sjha.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> From: Weems, Joyce <JWeems <@t> sjha.org>
> Subject: RE: [Histonet] Silly Question? - Need help quickly!
> To: "Pat Flannery" <pjfnefro <@t> duke.edu>, 
> histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.eduDate: Thursday, December 11, 
> 2008, 12:12 PM
> 
> I was just going to post a question regarding paraformaldhyde myself!
> Just last week I believe I remember someone saying that 
> paraformaldehydeand formalin are the same and they had put the 
> same solution in two
> different containers for one of their researchers because they 
> were so
> insistent to have two different solutions. Are they the same?
> 
> Well, today I have a request to put tissue for a researcher in 
> formalinand paraformaldehyde. So.... Without percentage 
> required, do I use 10%
> NBF? Do I call somewhere and get paraformaldehyde and make 4%
> paraformaldehyde?
> 
> I have asked the surgeon twice for the number for the lab so I 
> can find
> out - don't have it yet. I have two fresh adrenals in the 
> fridge. Help!!
> 
> 
> Thanks in advance...
> Joyce
> 
> Joyce Weems
> Pathology Manager
> Saint Joseph's Hospital
> 5665 Peachtree Dunwoody Rd NE
> Atlanta, GA 30342
> 678-843-7376 - Phone
> 678-843-7831 - Fax
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
> [mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Pat
> Flannery
> Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2008 11:59 AM
> To: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
> Subject: [Histonet] Silly Question?
> 
> Please humor me on this if it's obvious (to everyone but 
> me):  why do we
> use paraformaldehyde (which is so inconvenient to make up) 
> rather than
> buffered formalin or just diluted formaldehyde itself?
> 
> It seems that around here, some folks prefer paraformaldehyde 
> (either 2%
> or 4%) and others use formalin, while some others stick to diluted
> formaldehyde (I see all 4 on labels for specimens submitted for
> histology).  Is it mostly a matter of personal preference 
> or where you
> were trained (i.e. force of habit) or is there a valid reason to use
> each solution (basically the same chemical once in solution, merely
> buffered or not)?  The only answer I've gotten when I've 
> asked is,
> "That's what we always use."
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> -Pat Flannery (not a "real" histologist - I just play one in the lab)
> 
> 
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