The Feulgen Reaction After Hydrolysis at Room Temperature

Abstract
Among the cytochemical methods for demonstrating desoxyribonucleic acid, the hydrochloric-acid-Schiif reaction has been valuable since Feulgen reported it in 1924. A difficulty in that technic is that the section may come loose from the slide; this is caused by hydrolysis at 60° C. When sections were hydrolyzed by 1, 3, 5 or 6 N HCl at room temperature for 15 minutes, adequate hydrolysis and the strong development of color occurred with 5 N HCl. Similarly successful results were obtained with 5 N nitric acid hydrolysis for 10 minutes. Both procedures appear to be as practical as hydrolysis in 1 N HCl at 60° for 4–6 minutes.