DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANS. 



115 



The following table after Tereg^ gives the different conditions of 

 the urine, and especially the amount of urea and hippuric acid under 

 different rations. The subjects were two oxen, weighing, respectively, 

 1.260 pounds and 1,060 pounds: 



The varying quantity of urea (from 1.6 to 15.4 ounces) is most sug- 

 gestive as to the action of the more or less nitrogenous feed and the 

 resulting concentration of the urine and blood. Hippuric acid, on 

 the other hand, is most abundant when the animal is fed on hay and 

 straw. 



The specific gravity of the urine of cattle varies from 1,030 to 1,060 

 in health, water being 1,000. It is transparent, with a yellowish tinge, 

 and has a characteristic, musky smell. The chemical reaction is alka- 

 line, turning red litmus paper blue. The quantity passed in twenty- 

 four hours varies greatly, increasing not only with the water drunk, 

 but with the albuminoids taken in with the feed and the urea pro- 

 duced. If a solution of urea is injected into the veins the secretion 

 of urine is greatly augmented. Similarly the excess of salts like car- 

 bonate of potash in the feed, or of sugar, increases the action of the 

 kidneys. Only about 20 per cent of the water swallowed escapes in 



1 Encyklop. der Thierbeilk., Vol. IV, p. 208. 



