This site is dedicated to the histology of organisms. Its main role is to guide any person interested in this field to an original image gallery (Franck Genten Flickr.com) accessible on the internet. The gallery will be enhanced monthly with new microphotographs. The gallery offers a lot of information on general histology of hundreds of species, from unicellular organisms to horses, from trout, to toad, to agama, to duck, to crab or buttercup and so on. The great diversity of species that will be treated differentiates our gallery from other histological image libraries, mostly dedicated to man and a few laboratory mammals.

Histological examination by light microscopy is the discipline of biology consisting in observation of sections whose average thickness is 5 micrometres. This science allows careful examination of various tissues and organs of an organism. Because histology is not only restricted to description, it must correlate the microscopic appearance of structures to their functional properties.

Many techniques exist for the study of cells, tissues and organs, but the one we have chosen is the examination of fixed tissue samples, selectively stained and observed under light microscope.

The Flickr gallery already contains hundreds of images. Its goal is to finally store thousands of iconographic pictures offering a general reference guide to the anatomy of organisms dedicated to a wide audience of biologists, veterinarians and histologists and also to students and research scientists working in academic institutions.
Nevertheless, even without having the soul of a scientist, a curious or inquisitive person, a naturalist, an artist, a photographer and why not a painter, watercolorist, fisherman, landscaper, decorator, designer, or a lover of original and beautiful, everyone might find here something to marvel at!

Texts and captions for the images are not exhaustive, but help to understand! Although based on histology, notions of anatomy, physiology, taxonomy (classification of organisms) and ethology (behaviour) are sometimes present. Given the wide range of organisms and structures potentially available, we invite people looking for more information to refer to specialized literature.

All micrographs are original, from our own work (unless otherwise mentioned) and in full colour. In almost all cases, tissues and organs are from animals born in captivity, intended for collections or practical work or for consumption (slaughterhouses).
  
The samples were fixed for the vast majority in the Bouin’s solution and included in paraffin. The sections were mostly stained with techniques using several dyes (trichromes). Some preparations were subjected to other protocols, more specific and expensive, requiring for example, the use of antibodies or lectins.

Besides the caption, each micrograph includes the scientific or common name of the organism (animal, plant or other), and as far as possible, the staining method.

Histology is a science that requires a lot of time; so the pictures will be gradually added. Do not hesitate to send us an email (info@histologie-histology.be) if you are looking for or expect specific needs.
In the Flickr gallery, you will discover:

8 main groups : 1. Fish / 2. Amphibians / 3. Reptiles / 4. Birds / 5. Mammals / 6. Invertebrates / 7. Embryology / 8. Various microscopic images / 9. Beautiful and mysterious

In each of the first 5 categories: 14 chapters (15 for fish) and subchapters containing the various tissues and systems (except some redundant images, well-known or missing). Don’t be surprised to find empty folders. We don’t have all the material available for all the chapters yet. But be sure we will do our best in order to complete the galleries whenever new images are treated.
For category 6 : 2 subdivisions (non-Arthropods and Arthropods)

For category 7 : images of embryology with 4 subdivisions ; mainly amphibians and birds

For category 8 : 6 subdivisions (Prokaryotes, Protists, Fungi, Plants, non-Chordates and Chordates)

The ninth group shows pretty or unusual images from "unidentifiable sections", due to the lack of information or our inability to recognize them. But if someone has an idea about any of these micrographs, let us know ... Here the micrographs are arranged successively one after another.

The original micrographs, in high resolution quality (several MB) without annotations are available by email on request and payment of EUR 20 € / image.

We hope you will enjoy discovering these images .