Bouin’s fluid fixation

Contributed by Martin Fitzpatrick, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom

Fixation of histological samples with Bouin’s fluid

  • Prepare 75ml saturated aqueous solution of picric acid
  • Add 25ml formalin (40% aqueous solution of formaldehyde) to give 100ml total volume
  • Add 5ml glacial acetic acid
  • Fix tissue by submersion in Bouin’s fluid for 6 hours
  • Transfer fixed tissue to 70% alcohol

This method is based, with permission, on an original protocol available here.