292 THE SECRETIONS : 



of water being so large as to retain the uric acid in solution. 

 I have frequently observed this to be the case, for on the ad- 

 dition of free hydrochloric acid to the urine no uric acid has 

 been separated, when upon treating that portion of the residue 

 of the urine which is insoluble in alcohol with nitric acid, I have 

 always obtained the red colour which is characteristic of uric 

 acid. Becquerel, however, has observed a spontaneous sediment 

 of uric acid thrown by diabetic urine. 



[In this country a sediment of uric acid is by no means 

 rare ; I have observed it in at least six cases, usually in the form 

 of bright yellow lancet-shaped crystals.] 



I have observed cases in which I have convinced myself that 

 the absolute quantity of urea was diminished. 



A man aged 52 years, treated for diabetes mellitus in our 

 hospital did not pass more than from two to two and a half 

 quarts of urine in the twenty-four hours. In its external ap- 

 pearance it was perfectly normal ; it contained, however, 8'6 of 

 sugar, and only 0'026 of urea, so that while a healthy man 

 excretes about an ounce of urea in the twenty-four hours, in 

 this case there were only thirteen grains excreted in an equal 

 time. In another man who was being treated by Dr. Lehwess, 

 and who indulged freely in sugared drinks, the quantity of urine 

 in twenty-four hours amounted to between four and five quarts, 

 and contained mere traces of urea. The urine was very pale 

 and turbid, its specific gravity was only 1018, and it contained 

 4*2 of solid residue, 3*9 of which were sugar. After the dis- 

 continuance of the sugar, and the adoption of a proper diet, 

 the specific gravity became lower and the urine contained as 

 much urea as constituted a fifth part of the solid residue : the 

 sugar had also decreased to one half its original amount. 

 Subsequently the sugar almost entirely disappeared from the 

 urine ; the urea, on the other hand, had increased to such an 

 extent as to constitute a third part of the solid residue. 



Bostock is of opinion that diabetes mellitus is not unfre- 

 qnently preceded by a diseased condition, (in fact a kind of 

 diabetes,) during which a large quantity of urine very rich in 



