336 THE SECRETIONS: 



In most of the cases in which Becquerel examined the morn- 

 ing urine of women who had recently been delivered, he found 

 it anaemic ; the specific gravity varied from 1006 to 1014, the 

 average being 1011. 



As the milk- fever comes on, the chemical composition of the 

 urine appears to undergo some modification, at least we are led 

 to infer so from an analysis of Becquerel. It was secreted in 

 diminished quantity, contained a larger proportion of urea and 

 uric acid, was darker, and deposited a sediment. 



He examined the urine of a woman aged 22 years, four days 

 after delivery, while suffering from the milk-fever. It was of 

 a saffron-yellow colour, deposited a sediment on the addition 

 of nitric acid, and also spontaneously, after the lapse of some 

 hours. In the course of twenty-four hours there were 15*5 

 ounces excreted. The specific gravity was 1031-5. 



1000 parts contained : 



Water .... 948-2 



Solid constituents . . .51-8 



Urea 187 



Uric acid . 

 Fixed salts . 

 Extractive matter 

 Albumen 



2-7 

 11-3 



18-3 

 0-7 



Here the urea amounts to 36, and the uric acid to no less 

 than 55 of the solid residue. 



'o 



On the passage of medicinal and other substances into the urine. 



[All substances incapable of assimilation that enter the cir- 

 culation are removed by the kidneys, either in the state in 

 which they entered the organism, or in a modified condition. 



Inorganic, non-metallic bodies. Iodine appears rapidly in 

 the urine in combination with ammonium, (Lehmann,) sodium, 

 and potassium. Bromine has been detected by Glover and 

 Heller, and chlorine by Orfila. 



Iodide of potassium, the alkaline borates, silicates, chlorates, 

 and carbonates, as also chloride of barium, ferridcyanide of 

 potassium, and sulphocyanide of potassium, were found by 

 Wohler 1 in the urine ; the ferridcyanide was, however, converted 

 into ferrocyanide in the system. 



1 Tiedemann's Zeitschr. fiir Physiol. vol. 1, p. 305. 



