454 URINE 



effervesces with acids, and becomes turbid on boiling, which con- 

 verts the earthy bicarbonates into simple carbonates, which, conse- 

 quently, become precipitated ; it does not contain ammonia ; neither 

 Boussingault nor von Bibra could discover either uric, or hippuric, 

 acid in it ; but Boussingault has shown that in all probability it 

 contains alkaline lactates. Phosphates occur only in very small 

 quantity in it, but sulphates and chlorides are tolerably abundant. 

 The specimens of pigs' urine examined by these chemists con- 

 tained from 1-804 to 2'086-Q- of solid constituents, in which from 

 0'29 to 0*49 were urea. 



The urine of carnivorous animals differs only slightly from that 

 of man ; when freshly passed, it is of a light yellow colour, of a 

 disagreeable odour, a nauseous bitter taste, and an acid reaction ; 

 it very soon, however, becomes alkaline. Vauquelin,* Gmelin, 

 Hiinefeld, and especially Hieronymi,t have examined the urine of 

 lions, tigers, leopards, panthers, hysenas, dogs, wolves, and bears. 

 Urea is present in the urine of these animals in large quantities, 

 and may be separated in a state of great purity, since only little 

 pigment is present : uric acid is only present in it in very small 

 quantity ; Landerer,J however, found 1-g- of uric acid in the urine 

 of the hedgehog (Erinaceus europeeus). 



The urine of the herbivora is very different from that of the 

 carnivorous animals and of man. This secretion has been examined 

 in the case of elephants, rhinoceroses, camels, horses, oxen, goats, 

 beavers, rabbits, hares, and guinea-pigs ; it is generally of a 

 yellowish colour, very turbid, of an offensive odour, and is always 

 alkaline ; it certainly resembles the urine of the carnivora in often 

 containing much urea, but it differs from the latter in containing a 

 considerable amount of alkaline and earthy carbonates, and of 

 a fatty and odorous matter, in the perfect absence of uric acid, and 

 in its extremely small quantity of earthy phosphates. According 

 to Boussingault, lactates are always present. 



The urine of the horse has been more carefully studied (by 

 several chemists) than that of any other animal of this class ; like 

 that of man, it varies with the nature of the food; when freshly 

 passed, it is usually turbid and of a pale yellow colour, but on 

 exposure to the air it very soon assumes a dark brown tint ; in the 

 course of my experiments I have sometimes found it tolerably clear, 

 and it then had a strong alkaline reaction ; besides alkaline bicarbo- 

 nates, it contains in solution a very little of the bicarbonates of lime. 



* Ann.- de Chim. T. 82, p. 174. 



t Jabrb. d. Ch.-u. Phys. Bd. 3, S. 322. 



J ArcL f. Ch. u. Mikros. Bd. 3, S, 296. 



