∞ generated and posted on 2016.01.14 ∞
Microscopic stains possessing a positive charge and thereby which are able to bind to negatively charged materials.
| As a base tends to gain protons, which are positively charged, a Basic Dye as a base, as a consequence is positively charged and therefore is both attracted to and binds to negatively charged substances. As many specimens such as bacteria tend to be negatively charged, and background glass positively charged, Basic Dyes tend to stain the specimen but leave the background unstained. |
By and large basic dyes bind to the specimen and not the slide holding the specimen.
See simple stain and brightfield illumination. Contrast with acidic dye.