284 THE SECRETIONS: 



nitrogenous constituents, the urea and uric acid, and in the 

 appearance of the non-nitrogenous oxalic acid, and occasionally 

 but more rarely of benzoic acid. The acids are frequently so 

 abundant that the urine, upon cooling, deposits copious sedi- 

 ments of the oxalates, and these sediments sometimes form 

 renal and vesical calculi within the organism itself. The fre- 

 quent occurrence of oxalate-of-lime or mulberry calculi in chil- 

 dren is well known ; indeed, Prout is of opinion that half the 

 stone-cases occur before the full age of puberty. 



Becquerel has examined the urine in many cases of scrofula, 

 in some of which it showed itself in the form of caries, ne- 

 crosis, &c. ; while in others it appeared in suppuration of the 

 glands. A number of these children were in an anaemic state, 

 while others were apparently in good condition j in the former 

 cases the urine was anaemic, in the latter it was normal. The 

 specific gravity varied from 1010 to 1022. The lowest specific 

 gravity occurred in the anaemic cases. The colour was lighter 

 than that of normal urine, and was frequently of a greenish 

 tinge; the degree of acidity varied extremely, the urine fre- 

 quently becoming alkaline after a very short time. No uric- 

 acid sediments were observed, either spontaneous, or after the 

 addition of an acid. When febrile symptoms were combined 

 with those of scrofula, the urea approximated to the inflamma- 

 tory type ; its specific gravity became higher, (the average of 

 twelve cases being 1026,) the colour deeper, it had a very acid 

 reaction, and threw down a sediment of uric acid. 



In scrofulosis of the osseous tissue or rachitis the urine varies 

 very much in its composition from the normal type. These 

 deviations principally consist in the diminution of urea and of 

 uric acid, and in the increase of the salts. The colour of the 

 urine is generally either pale, or else it differs but little from 

 the normal appearance j the free acid sometimes increases to 

 an extraordinary degree, and some (Fourcroy) maintain that it 

 is free phosphoric acid. The phosphates exceed the physiolo- 

 gical average, and moreover a considerable sediment of oxalate 

 of lime is by no means rare. This extraordinary and morbidly- 

 increased capacity of the kidneys for the removal from the blood 

 of those salts which are so essential for the structure of the 

 osseous tissue, and the consequent tendency to the formation 

 of calculi in rachitic children, is regarded by Walther as a 



