234 



be the opinion, to this day; but how far founded, will 

 appear in the sequel. To this matter Scheele gave the 

 name of lithic acid; by which it continued to be knowa, 

 until our countryman, Dr. Pearson, has latterly proposed 

 that of uric ; a change greedily adopted by the Frepch 

 chemists, as being more particularly indicative of its ori- 

 gin. And, though I would presume to think, that the for- 

 mer known appellation might be retained, without dan- 

 ger of leading into error, as to its nature; yet, in com- 

 pliance with the philosophers of both nations, I shall, in 

 future, term it uric acid, and the concretions of that na- 

 ture, calculi of the uric acid kind. Wc must naturally 

 suppose, that the publication of Scheele's, E&say excited 

 the experimental enquiries of both chemists and physi- 

 cians. His experiments were, accordingly, repeated, by se- 

 veral of our countrymen in particular; but with various, 

 and,., in many instances, different results. 



It was already cursorily observed, that Bergman's ana- 

 lysis differed fiom Scheele's, in some circumstances, which 

 he, even at that period, was disposed to attribute to a 

 difierence in the nature of the calcuH, which they respec- 

 tively examined; and this conjecture has been fully esta- 

 blished, by every subsequent inquiry, since that time. We 

 accordingly find a paper of Dr. Dawson's, in the London 

 Medical Transactions for the year IjGQj shewing these 

 concretions to be of very different and opposite kinds, 

 and, of course, soluble in very different and opposite kinds 

 of menstrua: as also a letter from Dr. Saunders to Dr. 



Percival, 



