CHAPTER VIII.
Injection of Blood Vessels.
Injection of blood vessels may be performed on small animals, or on individual human organs after removal from the body. The object is to fill the vessels with a coloured fluid which will solidify afterwards. It is possible in the same organ to inject the arteries with a red medium, the veins blue, and secretory ducts, such as bile ducts, yellow or blue.
The most convenient basis for an injection mass is gelatine, as its solutions liquefy at a temperature of about 100° F., and solidify a little below that point, and when solidified cut readily, and do not tend to become brittle. The various masses are prepared as follows:—
Red injection mass (Woodhead’s formula) consists of gelatine softened by mixture with water and coloured by carmine.
| (1) | Carmine | 4 | grms. |
| Liq. ammoniæ B.P. | 8 | grms. | |
| Distilled water | 150 | c.c. |
Dissolve the carmine in the ammonia in a mortar. Pour on the water. Mix thoroughly and filter.
| (2) | Gelatine | 10 | grms. |
| Distilled water | 50 | c.c. |
Allow it to stand in the cold water until the water is absorbed and the gelatine has become soft.