THE NEW YORK JOURNAL OF PHARMACY 



9 



atives of urine, of which the follow- 

 ing is of the nature of a preliminary 

 report. This undertaking was further 

 justified not only by the fact that only 

 a little work has been done, at least 

 in a comparative manner, on preserva- 

 tives of urine, but also for the reason 

 that profound chemical changes re- 

 sulted when urines were preserved 

 with sulfuric acid and other reagents. 



In the first set of experiments a 

 quantity of urine, to which dextrose 

 had been added, was hermetically 

 sealed in flasks with the respective pre- 

 servatives ; the second set was put up 

 in glass-stoppered bottles ; all the sam- 

 ples were in 500 cc. volumes. After 

 certain times the changes that resulted 

 were observed (i) directly, (2) micro- 

 scopically and (3) through chemical 

 analysis. 



Direct observation showed that all 

 samples became cloudy or yielded pre- 

 cipitates on standing. Thymol re- 

 mained clear the longest ; the others 

 gave cloudiness or precipitates imme- 

 diately or after days, inversely in the 

 order of formaldehyde, ether, toluene, 

 hydrochloric acid, chloroform, etc. The 

 following developed mold : hydrochlor- 

 ic acid, hydrogen peroxide, formalde- 

 hyde, boric acid and strychnine sul- 

 fate. 



Microscopical examination showed 

 that bacteria were present in all sam- 

 ples, and in large numbers, except in 

 cases of hydrochloric acid and form- 

 aldehyde. Urate crystals were present 

 in the sediments of all samples, but 

 seemed to decrease in volume after 

 many days in samples containing mold, 

 especially in the case of hydrogen 

 peroxide. All the urines, except those 



treated with strychnine sulfate, form- 

 aldehyde, toluene, thymol and sodium 

 benzoate, being acidic in reaction, gave 

 sediments containing calcium oxalate 

 but no triple phosphate ; the latter 

 urines being alkaline gave both, ex- 

 cept in the case of sodium benzoate 

 which gave neither. 



The total phosphate was determined 

 by the uranium acetate method ; the 

 glucose by Purdy's method ; the am- 

 monia and creatinine, by Folin's 

 methods ; the uric acid, by Ruhemann's 

 method ;^ the urea and chlorine, by 

 Dehn's methods ;- and the total re- 

 duction of alkaline picrate by boiling 

 and estimating colorimetrically.^ 



These analytical methods, except for 

 phosphates and for chlorine, are sub- 

 ject to criticisms. The determination 

 by Purdy's solution includes other 

 oxidation-reactions besides glucose ; 

 the aeration of alkaline urines yields 

 other volatile bases besides ammonia ; 

 the development of color in cold as 

 well as hot alkaline solutions of pic- 

 ric results from other substances be- 

 sides creatinine; and with hypobromite. 

 nitrogen is evolved from ammonia as 

 •well as from urea. We have corrected 

 for ammonia in the urea reading by 

 multiplying the percentages of the 



^Berl. klin. Wochsch., 1903, Nos. 2 and 3; 

 Deut. med. Z., 1903, No. 8; Med. Woch., 

 1904, No. 3. 



2Z. anal. Chem., 44, 604; Z. physiol. Chem., 

 44, II- 



3We have found that hot alkaline solutions 

 of picric acid develops color not only with 

 creatinine but also with glucose, uric acid, 

 other purine bases, acetone and acetoacetic 

 ester. We are investigating the possibility of 

 application of this reaction to the analysis of 

 urine. See preceding article. 



