Answer :

One should not heat-fix the bacterial smear because this can destroy the capsule and will also cause shrinkage of the bacteria, making a clear area around the cell that can mistakenly be identified as a capsule.

Heat fixing causes the cells to shrink leaving an artificial white halo around them that could be mistaken for a capsule. Capsules appear colorless with stained cells against dark background. Capsules are thus fragile and can distorted, diminished, or destroyed by heating.

The process of heat fixation ensures the elimination of contaminating organisms from the smear preparation. Heat fixation coagulates the bacterial proteins and effectively kill the bacteria.

Hence, the answer was given and explained above.

To learn more about the heat fixation here:

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