VARIATIONS IN THE HEINE. 221 



days of extra-uterine life still uncertain. In a specimen of 

 urine taken from a still-born child delivered with forceps, 

 examined by Drs. Elliot and Isaacs, the presence of urea 

 was determined beyond a doubt. This urine was of a pale 

 straw-color, like clear syrup in consistence, of an acid re- 

 action, and a specific gravity of 1007*5. It contained neither 

 sugar nor albumen. Well-marked crystals of the nitrate and 

 of the oxalate of urea were obtained from this specimen. 1 

 Dr. Beale found urea in a specimen taken at the seventh 

 month. 3 



With our present imperfect knowledge of the compo- 

 sition of the urine at the earliest periods of existence, it is 

 impossible to deduce any conclusions regarding the pro- 

 duction of the excrementitious principles at this time ; and 

 it would be unprofitable to detail the unsatisfactory and 

 conflicting examinations to be found in works devoted spe- 

 cially to the urine. 



Observations upon children between the ages of three 

 and seven are more definite. At this period of life, the 

 amount of urea excreted in proportion to the weight of the 

 body is about double that in the adult. The amount of chlo- 

 rine in children is about three times the quantity in the 

 adult ; and the proportionate amount of other solid matters 

 is also greater. The amount of water excreted by the kid- 

 neys in children, in proportion to the weight of the body, is 

 very much greater than in the adult, being more than double. 

 From eight years of age to eighteen, the urinary excretion 

 becomes gradually reduced to the adult standard. 3 It has 

 been noticed by Gallois, that crystals of oxalate of lime are 

 much more frequent in the urine of children between four 

 and fourteen years of age than in the adult. 4 



1 ELLIOT, Urine in Foetal Life. American Journal of the Medical Sciences, 

 Philadelphia, 1857, New Series, vol. xxxiii., p. 555. 



8 BEALE, Kidney Diseases, Urinary Deposits, and Calculous Disorders, Phila- 

 delphia, 1869, p. 125. 



3 PARKES, op. cit., pp. 44, 45. 



* GALLOIS, De F oxalate de chaux, Paris, 1859, p. 14. 



