Santiago Ramón y Cajal and methods in neurohistology

Abstract

Controversy, misunderstanding or uninformed opinion abound over the extent to which the great Spanish neurohistologist, Santiago Ramón y Cajal, specified his staining methods in his analytical papers, the methods by which he analysed and presented his data, and the microscopes available to him. In this paper, we have attempted to outline the information on these points that we have been able to obtain from a detailed examination of his writings and a study of the evidence remaining in the Cajal Museum in Madrid.