Histochemical and quantitative determination of the mercury content in the spleen and bone marrow of mice

The experiments were carried out on "Swiss" mice which received injections of mercuric chloride. The organs examined included the spleen and bone marrow. The detection of mercury in the cells of the above organs was performed according to the histochemical method developed by Timm[13]. In both cases Timm's Ioethod failed, proving to be invalid for determination of the lowest mercuric concentrations. By use of the hXE technique, it was found that the minimum concentration of mercury in the tissue detectable by cyto-chemical methods amounts to 0.65-1.0 ppm.