On Wed, 28 Oct 1998 Sufoyle@aol.com wrote:

> has anybody out there ever heard of this stain?  i have an oral pathologist
> that wants this stain done.  the only directions that i have (if you can call
> it directions) are so confusing i can't make any sense of it.

 This dye (stains-all, ethyl stains-all or carbocyanine DBTC) is a
 notable loser. It can impart several colours to a section, but they
 fade disastrously in less than a week. One of the claims made by
 proponents of this dye was that you could pick out phosphoproteins
 (such as casein in milk). This is so, but the rapid fading still
 makes it a lousy stain.

 If it will help I can send you some literature references to support
 the previous paragraph. Just ask. Otherwise, tell your boss that
 you have heard that stains-all dyes aren't all they're cracked up
 to be, and haven't been since before 1980.

 Hope this helps,

 John A. Kiernan,
 Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology,
 The University of Western Ontario,
 LONDON,  Canada  N6A 5C1