484 DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANS. 



kidneys. On the other hand, it may be stated as an argu- 

 ment in favour of the notion that the kidneys are affected, 

 that chyle has often been found in the blood when the urine 

 was entirely free from albuminous matters ; shewing that, in 

 the healthy state of these organs, even though chyle does 

 get into the sanguiferous system, it is not necessarily ejected, 

 or, if it is, that it undergoes the usual changes in passing 

 through the kidneys. This affection of the kidneys, how- 

 ever, like that in diabetes, does not seem to amount to 

 organic disease, at least to such as is cognisable by the 

 senses.^^ 



Dr. Eliiotson, in his Lectures \ expresses himself as 

 follows on the subject before us : ^' With regard to the al- 

 buminous state of the urine, we are indebted to — 



" Dr. Bright for the fact, that, in organic disease of the 

 kidney, the urine is generally in this albuminous state ; that 

 is to say, contains serum. And that Andral, in his ' Chemical 

 Reports,^ had previously mentioned a case where he found 

 the urine albuminous and the kidney in a granulated state. 

 He simply mentioned the fact. He had no more facts, and 

 he came to no general conclusion, nor would he have been 

 justified in doing so. But Dr. Bright has collected a large 

 number of cases, and he has found that, when the kidney is 

 in a disorganized state, the urine is generally albuminous. 

 He does not say (so far as I can understand his book), that 

 when the urine is albuminous the kidney must be in a state 

 of organic disease ; for he says, that sometimes he has seen 

 it only gorged Avith blood. But still, even here, the kidney 

 was affected. Some have gone further than this, and, I 

 think, without any reason whatever. They would have us 

 believe that nobody can have albuminous urine without organic 

 disease of the kidney. Now I really cannot subscribe to 

 this assertion ; and for this reason : I have seen patients 

 who were perfectly well a day or two before, but who have 

 got wet through ; symptoms of inflammatory dropsy have 

 come on ; the urine has become albuminous ; but on bleeding 

 them the dropsy has presently been got the better of, and the 



• Edited by Dr. Rogers, and published in 1839. 



