Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science, Vol s3-90, 75-86, Copyright © 1949 by Company of Biologists

On the Significance of the Plasmal Reaction

¹ Department of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy, Oxford

1. Two different reactions have been confused under the name ‘plasmal’. One, the true plasmal reaction, is due, as its discoverer Feulgen showed, to the liberation of higher aliphatic aldehydes from acetalphosphatides, the reaction taking place very rapidly under the influence of mercuric chloride, the products being coloured deeply with Schiff's reagent. The other reaction is due to the oxidation, by atmospheric oxygen, of double bonds in unsaturated fatty acid radicles. It is affected only slightly, if at all, by mercuric chloride, and increases with exposure of sections or pieces of tissue to atmospheric oxygen.

2. There is no completely satisfactory method for the histochemical demonstration of plasmal. Sections of fresh tissues are not usually suitable for cytological work, and fixation causes a reduction in intensity of the reaction. Also, the permissible fixatives are not all of the highest quality. Short fixation in a formaldehyde fixative (e.g. formal-calcium) followed by careful washing is probably the best, but the results should be compared with those obtained by the direct reaction of small pieces of fresh tissue. A suitable technique is described.