Further investigations concerning the applicability of laser analysis in quantitative histochemistry

Summary Further investigations on the applicability of the laser technique for qantitative purposes in histochemistry were conducted. Special attention has been paid to the relationship between the volume of the crater burnt out in the tissue by laser ray treatment and the photometric readings of the spectral bands. A statistical evalution of the measurements of crater volumes for quantitative histochemistry as well as determination of the error of the former method used and previously described (Kozik et al., 1970b) have been performed. Special agar standards containing known amounts of Pb(NO₃)₂ and appropriately prepared photographic plates were used. From the results obtained it appeared that the variances calculated for the differences between density of spectral bands for the Pb present in the investigated sample and the density of the respective band for the Ag present in the photographic plate fall in the range of between 14.1 and 19.7%, whereas the error of the method in which the density of spectral bands was related to the crater volumes covered a range from 3.45–7.7%.Based on the discussion of results the authors conclude that both methods of acP assay in histological slices by means of laser microanalysis may be successfully used.