CONDITIONS OF SOLUBILITY OF URIC ACID 181 



this linking with a nucleinic acid rest." 20 It has been sup- 

 posed, too, that uric acid by being linked with nucleinic acid 

 is protected to a certain degree from oxidation in the body. 21 

 It may be remarked with direct reference to this last state- 

 ment, that, if Wiechowski's results are to be accepted, there 

 is every reason to doubt whether uric acid is open to oxida- 

 tion in the human economy ; it would therefore have no need 

 of protection by the nucleinic acid to insure its escape from 

 combustion. Then, too, aside from the traces found in the 

 urine, we have not the least basis for supposing that nucleinic 

 acid is actually present in the circulating blood. 22 Nor is the 

 prevention of precipitation shown by uric acid in the pres- 

 ence of nucleinic acid to be looked upon as at all remarkable ; 

 it is not necessarily indicative of a true acid combination 

 with nucleinic acid. 23 Such inhibition of precipitation is 

 rather to be referred to the general group of variations of 

 solubility which are manifested by crystalloid substances in 

 the presence of all sorts of colloids 



Complex Conditions of Solubility of Uric Acid in Rela- 

 tion to the Uric Acid Diathesis. Complex phenomena of 

 solubility of this type are to be seriously considered in con- 

 nection with the uric acid of the circulating blood. The 

 nucleinic acid is not alone important; the general mass of 

 blood proteins are particularly to be thought of. It has been 

 stated that uric acid is much more soluble in serum than in 

 pure water. 24 In the urine, again, the solubility of the uric 

 acid is largely influenced by the presence of urea and diso- 

 dium phosphate (Na 2 H.P0 4 ), and relation of this to monoso- 

 sodium phosphate (NaH 2 P0 4 ). 25 There is no doubt of the 

 importance of such interrelations, too, in the formation of 



20 O. Minkowski, Die Gricht, in Nothnagel's Handb. d. spez. Pathol., pp. 189, 

 190, 1903. 



21 Y. Seo (Minkowski's Clinic, Greifswald), Arch. f. exper. Pathol., 58, 75, 

 1908. 



22 Th. Brugsch, Zeitschr. f. exper. Pathol., 6, 278, 1909. 



23 A. Schittenhelm, Zeitschr. f. exper. Pathol., 7, 110, 1910. 

 34 A. E. Taylor, Jour, of Biol. Chem., 1, 177, 1905. 



25 Investigations of Pf eiffer, Rudel, Hitter, Strauss and others. 



