Abstract: An apparatus for staining biological slides comprises a support housing; a slide conveyor assembly mounted within the support housing and including a slide support tray for holding a plurality of biological slides; a stain dispensing assembly within the support housing, having a plurality of dispensers adapted to be located above the slide support tray; and a stain removal assembly located within the support housing adjacent the dispensers, and including a fluid drain and a fluid evaporator. The slide tray is manually inserted and removed from the support housing, and is adapted to hold the slides throughout the entire staining process to minimize slide damage. Only two fluids, a stain and a buffer, are required and the entire procedure may be completed within seven minutes.

Abstract: A composition for use in staining biological samples such as blood smears which comprises a stain component and a buffer component, said components prepared in separate solutions, wherein each of said solutions contains a small quantity of a polyethylene oxide adduct of a long-chain, saturated aliphatic ether non-ionic surfactant. The surfactant is added to each component after the preparation of its respective solution. The composition is particularly useful in automated slide staining machines.