The Appearance of Differentiating Vascular Cells after Fixation in Different Solutions

The cambium and differentiating xylem elements of Salix fragilis and Fagus sylvatica were most satisfactorily fixed in a 3 per cent solution of glutaraldehyde in 0.05 M phosphate buffer and 0.4 M sucrose at pH 7.2 with sodium, calcium, and potassium chlorides added to a total combined molarity of about 0.1 M, so giving a total osmolality in excess of 1,000 milliosmols. As various factors such as the concentration of fixative, nature of buffer system, pH, addition of salts, addition of sucrose, osmolality, and temperature all affect fixation, it is important to report the exact constituents and conditions of fixation in published work.