A description of artefactual staining in 156 needle biopsies of the liver is given. The following representative methods were employed: Alcian blue'basic fuchsin mixture pH 3, fast green FCF pH 8, azure A'eosin Y mixture pH 5, gallocyanin'chromalum, Feulgen procedure and aluminium'haematein. Changes in stainability were seen in the 3–15 most peripheral cell layers and affected both cell nuclei and cytoplasm as well as sinusoidal lining. A dissociation of nucleoprotein and denaturation of protein in the outermost layers of the biopsy effected by the needle is suggested as being the cause of the altered stain‐ability. The consequences of these findings for the evaluation of needle biopsies is discus