8 P KEF ACE TO THE FIRST EDITION 



av:akonIn^ of an appreciation of the importance of physiological chem- 

 it.tr> to medical science, wtiich has led to the introduction of laboratory 

 courses on this subject in every medical school worthy of the name. 



A book on Chemical Pathology should, therefore, seek to supply 

 information to a varied group of readers. It sliould furnish collateral 

 reading to the student who for the first time goes over the subject of 

 General Pathology, which his text-books usually consider chiefly from 

 the morphological standpoint. It should exploit to the graduate in 

 medicine tlie advances that are being made along lines that are of 

 fundamental importance to clinical medicine. It should serve for the 

 investigator in biological chemistry or in pathology as a source of 

 information concerning the ground upon which the two subjects over- 

 lap — the "Grenzgebiete" of Pathology and Physiological Chemistry. 

 And, above all, it should afford a guide to the sources of our knowledge 

 of these subjects, since nothing but direct familiarity with the original 

 reports of the investigators themselves can give the student an im- 

 personal view of the actual status of the questions under consideration. 

 On account of this multiplicity of the objects in view, it has often been 

 necessary to consider certain topics from more than one standpoint ; 

 which explains, perhaps, certain apparent irregularities in the style 

 and manner of treatment. 



It has been assumed that the reader has at least an elementary 

 knowledge of organic and physiological chemistry. For the benefit 

 of those whose studies in these subjects date back some years, it has 

 seemed advisable to include in an introductory chapter an epitome of 

 the more modern views concerning the chemistry of the protein mole- 

 cule, the composition of the animal cell, and the principles of physical 

 chemistry, in as far as they apply to biological problems. The general 

 consideration of ''Enzymes" in Chapter II is written with a similar 

 object. In discussing these fundamental topics it has seemed advis- 

 able to omit detailed references to the numerous original sources, — 

 these may be found quoted in the special text-books cited in the foot- 

 notes; but in presenting the more distinctly pathological topics the 

 attempt has been made to render all the important literature available 

 to the reader and investigator. To economize space, a complete bibli- 

 ography has not been inserted when this exists already eollected in 

 some readily accessible review or original article ; hence the references 

 cited in the foot-notes will generally be found to include only the more 

 recent publications. These references have been so selected, however, 

 that they will be found to furnish bibliogra]ihical matter sufficient to 

 lead the investigator to all the important litei-ature on the topics 

 covered in this book. As to those subjects (such as gout, diabetes, and 

 gastro-intestinal putrefaction) which, because of their great practical 

 clinical interest, have already been discussed in available monographs 

 at greater length than the scope of this work would })ermit, it has 

 seemed appropriate merely to summarize the most recent views and 



