ALIZARIN RED Vital Staining of Cornea and Conjunctiva

A total of 206 eyes have been subjected to vital staining with 1% alizarin red (in 64 cases followed by staining with a mixture of rose bengal and fluorescein and in 104 cases by a mixture of alizarin red and lissamine green). Forty‐seven preparations have been examined in the microscope. The investigation disclosed that alizarin red partly effects specific staining of calcareous deposits (in the mucous thread of the conjunctival fornix, in slaked lime corrosion, and in meibomian gland infarcts), and partly causes staining resembling a weak rose bengal staining (degenerate cells, dead cells, and mucus). Vital staining with the alizarin‐lissamine mixture gives calcium a red colour (alizarin alone), while cells and mucus are stained blue (both components) or green (lissamine alone).