THE INDIA-INK METHOD OF EXAMINATION OF SPIROCHAETA PALLIDA

This method has been described in detail from time to time, and in the majority of cases in which India ink has been used as a means of detecting theSpirochaeta pallida, a prepared waterproof India ink has been recommended. The method usually described is to obtain a specimen from the suspected lesion; a drop of this is placed on a glass slide, an equal amount of prepared India ink is added and the mixture is smeared fairly thin. It has come to my attention in using this method that the secondary organisms were usually abundant and that the field in every instance showed a striking similarity of these secondary organisms. On comparing the slides of the same case made by the prepared India ink and the field seen with the dark-ground illuminator, it was noted in every instance that many more organisms could be identified with the India ink