URINE. 281 



clinical ward for children, and in which there were no drop- 

 sical symptoms, I could find no albumen. In the case of a man 

 aged 20 years, which occurred in Schonlein's clinical wards, the 

 urine was very albuminous during the period of desquamation, 

 and continued so for four days without the occurrence of 

 dropsy ; in another man, in whose urine I found no albumen, 

 there were also no dropsical symptoms. 



In a boy aged 5 years, who was suffering from septic scar- 

 latina just then at its acme, (putrid odour from the mouth and 

 nose, and disturbance of the cerebral faculties,) the urine was 

 of a dark -yellow colour, had an alkaline reaction, a very dis- 

 agreeable ammoniacal odour, and threw down a dirty white 

 sediment of earthy phosphates, urate of ammonia, and urate of 

 soda; the latter occurring in the form of opaque globules. 

 The specific gravity was 1022, and about 16 ounces were dis- 

 charged in the course of twenty-four hours. Therewere contained 

 in 1000 parts : 



Analysis 123. 



Water .... 943-60 



Solid constituents . . . 56-40 



Urea .... 19-35 



Uric acid . . 1-69 



The uric acid was combined with ammonia and soda. I ex- 

 amined the urine of the same boy afterwards, and found that 

 it possessed precisely similar characters : it was of a straw- 

 colour, had an alkaline reaction, and an ammoniacal odour; 

 the sediment was more copious than on the former occasion, 

 and there were considerably more of the large opaque globules, 

 which I consider to be urate of soda. During the period of des- 

 quamation I found a greater number of mucus-corpuscles in the 

 sediment than is usual, but nitric acid gave no indication of 

 albumen. The urine above the sediment remained turbid in 

 consequence of holding in suspension a very large quantity of 

 epithelium, which was swimming about, partly in single scales, 

 and partly in fragments of 8-12 scales connected with each 

 other, and all of which were acted on by some chemical agent, 

 probably by the carbonate of ammonia in the urine. 



This sediment should always be sought for with as much 

 care as albumen. It is an indication of the desquamation of 



