242 INFECTIOUS AND PARASITIC DISEASES. 



or straw, to a brownish-red. The color of all urines 

 deepens upon standing, while at the same time a cloud 

 forms which gradually sinks to the bottom of the vessel 

 which contains it. Urines which are allowed to get 

 chilled are often quite cloudy or opaque, and when pre- 

 senting this appearance are sometimes taken to indi- 

 cate an abnormality in the secretion. Opacity from 

 this cause is quickly dissipated on the application of 

 heat. 



Pathological urines exhibit the same variations in 

 shades as the normal. The color of all urines is sub- 

 ject to seasonal variation, being pale in winter and dark 

 in summer. A pale urine simply indicates an excess of 

 water. The color of urine is also influenced by the 

 food ingested. 



Urines are described as: 



(i) Pale or straw color. 



(2) Amber. 



(3) Reddish-yellow or red (high color). 



(4) Reddish-brown (dark urine). 



Besides these shades the urine may be green from 

 bile, red from blood, black from melanin, blue from 

 indican or after the ingestion of methylene blue, yellow 

 from santonin or rheum, and milk-like from the presence 

 of pus or chyle (chyluria). In filariasis, the urine may 

 contain both chyle and blood, a condition to which the 

 name hcematochyluria has been given. 



