URINE. 



299 



great extent, and is replaced by albumen, a substance of fre- 

 quent occurrence at the commencement of the disease, and 

 apparently alternating with the sugar. 



When the sugar is no longer perceptible to the taste (either 

 in the urine or in the spirit-extract), it can always be readily 

 detected by Trommer's test. I usually take a test-tube of 

 about seven inches in length, fill three fourths of an inch of it 

 with urine, and heat it with ^ss or 3ij of carbonate of potash ; 

 I add five or six times the volume of spirit of -845, and again boil; 

 a few drops of a solution of sulphate of copper are then added, 

 and heat again applied. If much sugar is present, the reduction 

 of the oxide of copper to a state of sub-oxide occurs very 

 quickly in the lower stratum of solution of carbonate of potash, 

 and the fluid becomes of a yellow, red, or copper colour ; if the 

 quantity of sugar is very small, the reduction still takes place, 

 but much more gradually. If, however, no sugar is present, 

 the solution of potash remains of a blue or blueish-green colour. 



I have recently analysed a specimen of diabetic urine con- 

 taining only a very small amount of sugar, although previously 

 that constituent had been present in large quantity. A short 

 time previously to the last analysis, no sugar could be detected, 

 but albumen was present. The urine passed at different periods 

 of the day was analysed separately. The quantity of urine 

 passed between noon and evening contained most sugar, and 

 was most abundant ; that passed during the night contained the 

 least. The three analyses gave the following results : 



Quantity of urine 

 Specific gravity . 



In 1000 parts there were contained : 



Water . . . 943-00 946-43 934-47 



Solid constituents . . 57-00 53-57 65-53 



Urea . . . 14-12 17-50 16-21 



Uric acid . . . 0-34 0-80 0-50 



Chloride of sodium, with a little ~| 



carbonate and sulphate of V 11-27 8-60 10-50 



soda . . .J 



Alkaline sulphates and phosphates 5-80 4-65 5-70 



Earthy phosphates . . 1-20 0-80 0'90 

 Extractive matters, with am 



monia-salts and traces of ^ 24-51 21-94 32-18 



sugar 



