Use of Silver Nitrate for the Histochemical Demonstration of Ascorbic Acid

Abstract

SILVER nitrate in acid solution has been widely used for the study of the distribution of ascorbic acid in tissues and cells¹. A survey has recently been made, using this method, of its occurrence in chick embryos². During this study a previously unreported phenomenon was observed in newly calcified bone: this was a heavy dark deposit which filled many of the newly formed trabeculæ of cartilage and membrane bone. The histological picture was similar to that produced in developiug bones by the use of von Kossa's silver nitrate technique for the demonstration of calcium. A related phenomenon has been observed in the long bones of adult rats, which become bright yellow on treatment with acid silver nitrate. In specimens from both these types of bone prepared for histological examination there are seen dark deposits in many of the trabeculæ, quite different in character from the small black granules seen in other tissues treated by this method.