Two drachms of carbolic acid are sometimes added to each pint of the fluid but as a rule it is not necessary.
Müller’s fluid is the most generally useful of the various fluids employed, for the following reasons:—
1. It causes very little shrinking of the elements of the tissue, and hence may be employed for most delicate objects, e.g., the retina and embryos.
2. In consequence of its not making the tissues shrink, it does not squeeze the blood out of the vessels and where the organ has been congested before death, we may, by using Müller’s fluid, preserve a natural injection of the capillaries.
3. There is comparatively little danger of over-hardening the tissue and rendering it brittle.
4. Sections of organs hardened in Müller’s fluid are usually firm and easy to manipulate. They do not tend to curl up or adhere to one another as much as those hardened in spirit.
5. It readily permeates the tissues, and hence large portions of organs, or even the entire organ may be satisfactorily hardened in it.
6. It is very cheap. A gallon can be made up for about eightpence.
The fluid has however certain slight drawbacks:—