Multiple sclerosis; Bodian stain: Although multiple sclerosis is classified as a demyelinative disorder, and axis cylinders in the early stages of the disease are spared, eventually axons are destroyed along with myelin. (It is the sparing of axons that presumably allows for some degree of recovery of function after an acute attack of multiple sclerosis). In this photomicrograph of a Bodian preparation that stains axons, there is a plaque of multiple sclerosis on the right and normal tissue on the left. It is readily seen that the dark staining on the left is created by the normal density of axons, while the pallor on the right is due to loss of axons. Note that even at this stage the destruction is subtotal, there being no cavity formation.