Feulgen staining of mammalian tissues fixed in picro-formol-acetic acid

The paper describes a highly satisfactory method for in situ localization of DNA in tissues fixed in picro-formol-acetic acid or picro-formol-acetic-chromic acid mixtures following a technique in the Feulgen procedure as devised by the author. Mammalian tissues fixed in these fixatives can be hydrolysed in 6N HCl at 35 degrees C for 10 min, rinsed in water, stained with Schiff reagent after exposing the sections under UV light for 10 min, washed in water, dehydrated through a graduated series of ethanol, cleared in xylol and mounted in DPX. Sections of tissues fixed in picro-formol-acetic-chromic acid mixtures after acid hydrolysis when stained with an aqueous solution of basic fuchsin are also found to be very satisfactory for in situ localization of DNA.