ABSTRACT
Ordinary adipose fat globules can be rendered resistant to paraffin embedding by the immersion of suitably fixed tissues in a saturated solution of potassium dichromate at 37° C for 7 weeks. Xylene has less tendency to remove the postchromed fat than chloroform, benzene, or toluene.
Adipose fat is usually dissolved out of the tissues during dehydration or embedding. Empty spaces are therefore usually seen in paraffin sections wherever fat globules were present during life. Several authors (Kaufmann and Lehmann, 1926 a, b; 1928; Smith, Mair, and Thorpe, 1909) have claimed that potassium dichromate can in certain circumstances be used to fix adipose fat in such a way that it is retained in paraffin sections, but a full study of this subject has not previously been made. My object has been to find a reliable method of fixing adipose fat by potassium dichromate in such a form that it is not dissolved away when paraffin sections are made.
