Camillo Golgi developed several stains, most of them still widely used for visualizing nerve cells and fibers; they are characterized by fixation in an aldehyde-osmium-dichromate solution, followed by impregnation with silver or gold salts. As you can see here, the process renders the subject as several shades of golds, browns and Blacks. Neuron somata are golden and their processes black in these beautiful images: they always remind me of the abstract paintings by the artist Jackson Pollock! This stain permits the definition of detailed structural information about the structure of the nervous system. The drawings he made 100 years ago are still found in textbooks as the best way to show the basic shapes of neurons.
Brain: Golgi stain, paraffin section, 100x and 400x| H&E | PAS | Masson's CT Stain | Verhoeff-van Gieson | Verhoeff-Masson | Mallory's CT Stain | Golgi Stain|
| Cresyl Violet | Cresyl Violet-Luxol Fast Blue | Kluver-Barrera | Fontana-Masson | Prussian Blue | Toluidine Blue|
|Osmium Tetroxide | Oil Red O | Sudan Black | Fluorescent & Enzymatic Tagging |
