Burri Method

BURRI METHOD (Burri), a method for the bacterioscopic detection of microbes using India ink, based on the fact that when the material under study is mixed with India ink, the microbes remain unstained and stand out by their white color against a dark background. Staining method: India ink (Pelikan-Grübler) is diluted 10 times with distilled water and sterilized in an autoclave for 30 minutes at 110°. The diluted sterilized India ink is allowed to stand for two weeks so that the suspended large particles have time to completely settle. A drop of such ink is placed on a glass slide, and a drop of the studied material is introduced into it. After mixing, the liquid is smeared in a thin layer over the slide and dried in the air. Without fixing, the preparation is examined using an immersion system. Ordinary Chinese ink can also be used, diluting it by half with water. There is also commercially available a special ready-to-use liquid India ink for bacteriological purposes (Günther-Wagner, Pelikan-Tusche für bakteriologische Zwecke, Grübler). Instead of India ink, a 10% aqueous solution of the dye Opalblau (Grübler) can be used on the same principle. In the latter case, the microbes appear colorless on a blue background. The method is used mainly in the study of spirochetes. BURSA (from Greek bursa), originally designated a hide, in the middle ages was the name for a bag, a sack; the term bursa mucosa was introduced into anatomy in the 18th century by Albinus, but unsuccessfully, because the thin-walled cavities so called contain not mucus, but a fluid resembling synovia (bursae synoviales); they can communicate with joints or be isolated from them. These bursae are very numerous and are located mostly where muscles or tendons, and sometimes ligaments, are situated over bony prominences; their purpose is to reduce friction. They also lie in the subcutaneous tissue and under fasciae in places of significant pressure. The designation "bursa" is also given to formations of a different significance,—thus, for example, there are bursae: bursa omentalis, ovarica, pharyngea. Bursa ovarica, the ovarian sac, a section of the body's abdominal cavity in which the ovary and ostium tubae are located; it is laterally delimited from the abdominal cavity by the tube and mesosalpinx, and medially by the ovary and mesovarium. It is open ventrally, but, due to the fact that the abdominal end of the tube encompasses the cranial pole of the ovary, it can be completely closed. The ostium tubae opens into the bursa ovarica, and thus the possibility of a matured egg entering the body cavity is reduced. The sac is well expressed in virgins; in women who have given birth, it is difficult to detect. The bursa ovarica should not be confused with the fossa ovarica, which is located higher.—Bursa omentalis, see Peritoneum. Bursa praepatellaris, see Knee joint.