236 THE SECRETIONS: 



full, others'empty ; the former contain a granular matter, darker 

 at some points than others, and containing cells and vesicles, 

 similar to mucus-corpuscles. The diameter of these tubes vary 

 from -0011 to -0006 of a French inch. 



I have satisfied myself, beyond a doubt, that they are derived 

 from the epithelium investing the tubes of Bellini. Whether 

 they are present as a consequence of Bright' s disease, or whe- 

 ther they occur in other renal affections, must be decided by 

 further observations : my present experience leads me to believe 

 that they are cotemporaneous with a certain amount of albumen 

 in the urine, but that blood-corpuscles need not necessarily be 

 present with them. [These tubes occasionally present the 

 twisted appearance represented in fig. 31, f, copied from Scherer. 

 The diagnostic value of this form of sediment is uncertain; 

 Schb'nlein regards it as an undoubted sign of Bright' s disease ; 

 Scherer 1 has, however, observed it during the period of des- 

 quamation succeeding scarlatina ; the same observation has been 

 made of Lehmann, and I have myself observed it in various 

 cases associated with a congested or irritated condition of the 

 kidneys.] 



On the fifth day from the commencement of treatment/ 

 the urine was much diminished in quantity; it amounted to 

 only from 2 to 2J ounces in twenty-four hours, was of a dark- 

 brown colour, continued to exhibit an acid reaction, and depo- 

 sited a very copious sediment in relation to the small quantity 

 of fluid. The quantity of albumen was so great that per- 

 fect coagulation took place on boiling some of the urine in 

 a test-tube; the tube could be inverted without any fluid 

 escaping. On the seventh day the amount of urine increased, 

 and it subsequently became still more abundant ; its properties 

 remained much the same till the eleventh day, after which the 

 albumen decreased to such an extent that on boiling a portion 

 of the urine, only about half its volume became coagulated. 

 The first occasion on which the urine was analysed, was when 

 the secretion was reduced to a few ounces ; the second occasion 

 was on the day when it again became more abundant. In 

 the latter case the solid constituents were much more abun- 



1 Untersuchungen, &c., p. 57. 



