What is a Romanowsky-type stain?

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Romanowsky-type stains are polychromatic stains used to examine blood and bone marrow cells by using a mix of dyes. The key idea is combining a basic blue dye, such as methylene blue, with a second dye (often an acidic dye like eosin or related azure dyes) so that different cellular components take on distinct colors. This dual-dye approach yields blue/purple nuclei and varying pink to grayish cytoplasm, allowing clear differentiation of cell types. Classic examples include Wright-Giemsa and related stains. This contrasts with Gram staining, which uses crystal violet and a counterstain, or hematoxylin-eosin staining, which is a different routine used for tissue sections. The essential feature is the use of methylene blue together with another dye to produce differential, multi-color staining.