URINE. 205 



The relative proportion of uric acid varies much in dif- 

 ferent diseases. We may conclude from the observations which 

 have been made that the amount is increased by disturbances 

 in the circulating system, as in the paroxysms of fever, in in- 

 flammations, &c. The following pathological conditions lead, 

 according to Becquerel, to an increased quantity of uric acid : 

 fever; great general functional disturbances, such as arise from 

 oppressive dyspnoea in pulmonary emphysema or cardiac dis- 

 ease, acute pain, convulsions, delirium, &c. especially when 

 attended with fever; and diseases of the liver, as hepatitis, cancer, 

 or cirrhosis. The amount of uric acid is diminished in those 

 cases in which there is a deficiency of blood, or where the blood is 

 poor in corpuscles. Becquerel found this to occur in cases of 

 chlorosis and anaemia, and in persons in whom the vital juices 

 seemed dried up. The amount of the salts in the urine fluctuates 

 extremely during disease. Generally speaking, we may assume 

 that the quantity of salts decreases in most pathological states 

 of the system ; the cases in which the salts increase during 

 disease being very rare. Becquerel states that in those diseases 

 in which the amount of urea is only slightly diminished, the 

 proportion of salts is not materially affected ; but that in those 

 cases in which the urea suffers a considerable reduction, the 

 same takes place with regard to the salts. Analyses of inflam- 

 matory urine are, however, opposed to this statement, since 

 in these cases the urea sometimes exceeds the normal amount, 

 while the salts are decreased in an extraordinary manner. It 

 is to be regretted that Becquerel has not undertaken an exact 

 quantitative separation of the different salts, as the increase or 

 decrease of the fixed salts collectively is a circumstance of much 

 less importance than the varying relative proportions of the 

 individual compounds. 



ON THE CONSTITUTION OF THE URINE IN DIFFERENT DISEASES. 1 



Urine in the Phlogoses. 



In inflammatory affections, and in those diseases which are 

 accompanied by that form of fever which is termed sthenic 



1 Becquerel has attempted to classify every form of morbid urine under one of the 



