724 URINE. 



much greater extent than when food very poor in phosphorus is given. In 

 starvation this relation is changed, namely, relatively more phosphoric 

 acid is eliminated, which seems to indicate that besides flesh and related 

 tissues another tissue rich in phosphorus is largely destroyed. The 

 starvation experiments show that this is the bone-tissue. According to 

 PREYSZ, OLSAVSZKY, KLUG, and I. MUNK l the elimination of phosphoric 

 acid is considerably increased by intense muscular work. 



As the phosphoric acid is in part derived from the nucleins, it would 

 be expected that in those diseases in which the excretion of alloxuric 

 bodies was increased the phosphoric acid would also be augumented. 

 This is not the case, and indeed we have observed cases with an increased 

 elimination of alloxuric bodies with a diminution in the phosphoric-acid 

 excretion. Cases of leucaemia have been observed in which the phos- 

 phoric-acid excretion was reduced, although there was a pronounced 

 increase in the number of leucocytes. In these cases there may be a 

 subsequent excretion or retention of phosphoric acid. This last condition 

 also occurs in inflammatory and renal diseases. The earthy phosphates 

 of the urine sometimes have the tendency of precipitating either spon- 

 taneously or after warming, and this has been called phosphaturia. We 

 are here dealing with a diminished acidity and, it seems, with a diminished 

 excretion of phosphoric acid and an increased elimination of lime, or at 

 least an essentially different relation between the phosphoric acid and 

 the alkaline earths of the urine, as compared with the normal (PANEK 



IWANOFF, SOETBER and KRIEGER 2 ) . 



Quantitative Estimation of the Total Phosphoric Acid in the Urine. 

 This estimation is most simply performed by titrating with a solution 

 of uranium acetate. The principle of the titration is as- follows: A warm 

 solution of phosphates containing free acetic acid gives a whitish-yellow 

 precipitate of uranium phosphate with a solution of a uranium salt. 

 This precipitate is insoluble in acetic acid, but dissolves in mineral acids, 

 and on this account there is always added, in titrating, a certain quantity 

 of sodium-acetate solution. Potassium ferrocyanide is used as the 

 indicator, which does not act on the uranium-phosphate precipitate, 

 but gives a reddish-brown precipitate or coloration in the presence of the 

 smallest amount of soluble uranium salt. The solutions, necessary for 

 the titration are: 1. A solution of a uranium salt of which each cubic 

 centimeter corresponds to 0.005 gram P 2 O 5 and which contains 20.3 

 grams of uranium oxide per liter. 20 cc. of this solution corresponds 

 to 0.100 gram P 2 O 5 . 2. A solution of sodium acetate. 3. A freshly 

 prepared solution of potassium ferrocyanide. 



1 Preysz, see Maly's Jahresber., 21; Olsavszky and Klug, Pfliiger's Arch., 54; Munk 

 3, Arch. f. (Anat. u.) Physiol., 1895. 



2 Panek, see Maly's Jahresber., 30, 112; Iwanoff, Biochem. Centralbl., 1, 710; 

 Soetber and Krieger, Deutsch. Arch. f. klin. Med., 72; Campani, Biochem. Centralbl., 

 3, 616; Tobler, Arch. f. exp. Path. u. Pharm., 52. 



