Papanicolaou's Stain Recipe

Papanicolaou's stain is used commonly for cancer screeing and smear preparations of various bodily secretions.

1. Mix 11.25ml of a 10% eosin Y solution into 450ml of 100% ethanol.
2. Mix 2.25ml of a 10% aqueous solution of light green SF into the solution from step 1.
3. Mix 25ml of a 1% bismarck brown solution (in ethanol) into the solution from step 2.
4. Mix 10ml of a 10% aqueous solution of phosphotongstic acid into the solution from step 3.
5. Mix 0.3ml of an aqueous solution of saturated lithium carbonate into the solution from step 4.