H&E Stain

Abstract

Böhmer and Fischer independently introduced the stains hematoxylin and eosin in 1865 and 1875, respectively.1,2 In 1867, Schwarz introduced the first double-staining technique using successive solutions of picric acid and carmine.3 With the idea of a double-staining technique already published, it wasn’t difficult for Wissowzky to describe the combination of the hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) dyes in 1876.4 All four authors published their articles in German journals, two in the same journal, which may account for the relative rapidity of communication and development in those pre-Internet times more than a century ago.