Crystal violet or Gentian violet (also known as Methyl Violet 10B, hexamethyl pararosaniline chloride, or pyoctanin(e)) is a triarylmethane dye. The dye is used as a histological stain and in Gram’s method of classifying bacteria. Crystal violet has antibacterial, antifungal, and anthelmintic properties and was formerly important as a topical antiseptic. The medical use of the dye has been largely superseded by more modern drugs, although it is still listed by the World Health Organization.
The name "gentian violet" was originally used for a mixture of methyl pararosaniline dyes (methyl violet) but is now often considered a synonym for crystal violet. The name refers to its colour, being like that of the petals of a gentian flower; it is not made from gentians or from violets.
Read more about Crystal Violet: Production, Dye Colour, Popular Culture
Famous quotes containing the words crystal and/or violet:
“Opinionated writing is always the most difficult ... simply because it involves retaining in the cold morning-after crystal of the printed word the burning flow of molten feeling.”
—Gavin Lyall (b. 1932)
“It were as wise to cast a violet into a crucible that you might discover the formal principle of its colour and odour, as seek to transfuse from one language into another the creations of a poet. The plant must spring again from its seed, or it will bear no flower—and this is the burthen of the curse of Babel.”
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822)