Knowledge base

The development of the stains we use routinely today took place over long periods of time, with a lot of trial and error, mostly empirically, and thanks to the contributions of many researchers. Nowhere is this truer than in the case of hematological staining of blood elements.

Unless you know histology, and even if you do, this title might be difficult to understand!

Discovered at the end of the 19th century, this Mexican tree extract stains only when oxidized (naturally by aging or chemically) and coupled with a metallic mordant.